Death Is Irrelevant
by wAvybone
Summary: "I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are." Mewtwo / Given a second lease at life, how will Naruto respond with being charged as the only one who can bring balance to all three worlds?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One ~ Closed Eyes See Things**

The man's eyes traced along the paper as he read yet another document proposing funding for the very first 'Global Positioning System' for shinobi and he rolled his eyes. He appreciated the advances in technology, but once it started clashing with his ideology for the village he couldn't allow it. Shinobi were meant to move in silence, while such a system would help them navigate their way through the continent, it could be used against them in the same breath, and that would ruin the whole 'hidden' part of a hidden village.

It was a no from the Hokage.

People only had a vague idea of where Konohagakure sat, and only knew how to get there through espionage or direct invitation. Giving the whole world the option to get exact coordinates for one of the most powerful villages in the elemental nations would be troublesome, and they had too many enemies to count already. The only true support they had was in the major villages, while the rest of the world was not only scared of the power they possessed, but would probably jump the gun if given the opportunity.

He worked tirelessly every day to make sure the village was protected, and almost to a fault; he put everything on the back burner to make sure his job was done correctly. The man barely got to spend time with his actual family, living vicariously through the relayed memories from his clones. It would never suffice for the real thing, but he took an oath to protect his hometown wholeheartedly until it was time to pass the hat to the next great leader, and he didn't plan on doing that any time soon.

His eyes drifted away from the papers, looking out the window of his office and staring at said village he was so proud to protect. Even as the rain poured down mercilessly, he knew the sun would shine through the next day like it never happened. A small smile graced his features, not even shuddering as lightning struck unusually close to the Hokage monument, where his face was expertly carved into the front of the mountain.

However, when the thunderstruck, his head forcefully snapped forward, and his eyes fell upon his desk where the papers were now covered in blood. The man touched at his chest, and his hands firmly wrapped around the blade of a katana that was currently sticking out after being stabbed through his back, but the person missed the vital point they were looking for, "To be able to get past ANBU _and_ my ability to sense ill intent is trul-" The man spat out even more blood onto his desk when his assailant twisted his blade inside of his body.

"I'm surprised…. That you're not a clone…" The man wielding the sword, turned the blade on its side, as he started to drag it through his chest inch by inch and get dangerously close to the Hokage's heart. His presence was almost non-existent, but the sword protruding from his target's chest proved that he was at least a tangible being. "For what it's worth…. I'm sorry…"

The Hokage's face twisted in horror, being caught off guard in the worst way. He boasted some of the best sensing abilities on the planet, yet somehow he was caught from behind. His eyes shifted to the picture of his family sitting on his desk, but he couldn't see the faces because the entire image was overshadowed by his blue eyes staring into the vibrant reflection of his enemies purple, rippled patterned eyes. He clutched at his desk, his life slowly fading from his eyes, so he could only ask one thing before he died, "Why?"

"Uzumaki Naruto… you're the only one who can save us…"

 **XxX**

Naruto shot up from where he was sleeping on the ground and wiped thick beads of sweat away from his forehead. This was the third time in a few months he had seen his own death, and each time it got more vivid. The first time, he was simply stabbed through the heart, the second time he could actually see the picture of his family, and from the dream he had just woken up from; he saw the eyes of his killer, as well as his own reflection. He didn't want to believe that it was true, but such an intense, recurring dream had to mean something.

He pushed himself off the ground and moved out from the patch of grass he was using to rest, leaving the thick of the forest and heading out to the river he used to wash up. Before he stripped down to cleanse his body of the dirt and grime from his previous day, he was caught staring at his reflection in the water. He had vibrant blonde hair, which had grown to his shoulder since he arrived in Rukongai. However, what troubled him this morning, unlike all the other mornings was when he looked at himself; something seemed off. The same blue eyes he thought were normal the day prior seemed odd today.

When he saw his reflection in the glass of his picture frame in the dream, he saw a seasoned veteran with a family, but right now he saw a boy that was wet behind the ears. There were no battle scars to prove his experience, chisel to show his growth as man, or hardened eyes to display his bravery. All he saw was a teenage kid, "Who the fuck am I?"

"That's a question I ask myself everyday, un," Another fellow blonde with his hair tied into a high ponytail came strolling out of the woods with a fishing rod over his shoulder. He had a bucket filled with bait in his other hand, and he set it down next to Naruto as he started to set up his small fishing operation while Naruto stared at him with a confused face, "You look like you want to say something fucker, so go ahead and say it."

Whoever this boy was he felt familiar, and Naruto couldn't ignore the sensation that was ringing in his brain, but he couldn't put a name to the face, or where he would even know him from. Naruto looked him over, taking note of his semi-ragged sleeveless shirt, which was navy in color, and the matching pants to go with it, as well as a pair of geta on his feet. He decided not to act on his feeling for now, and simply grinned, "I can't believe you're fishing out here, the fish from this river taste terrible."

"I'm not fishing for food, un," The blonde teenager hooked a piece of bait onto the end of his rod and was almost ready to begin his hunt. "Some asshole poisoned all of the Kuchiki clan's ponds in their garden, so all of their fish died, and there's only one person in all of Soul Society that can find the very rare nishikigoi they need and that's the almighty Deidara. Let's just say they paid well," He grinned back at Naruto and threw his reel into the river to begin fishing.

Something then clicked in Deidara's mind that nearly made him strangle Naruto, "You said that the fish tasted terrible, have you been eating the damn fish from these waters?" An innocent nod from Naruto made him want to lash out at the boy, but he didn't know any better. "God damn it kid, you've probably eaten half the population by now, un."

"You would think that the colorful ones would taste better, but nope," Naruto sighed remembering his awful tasting meals for the last few weeks. He jumped away from Deidara when his fellow blonde tried to smash the end of his fishing rod into his head. "Hey, there's nothing else to eat around here!"

Deidara grinded his teeth together and tried to calm down, looking at Naruto with a twitching brown eye. The boy was wearing a stained white t-shirt and a pair of dirt smudged black shorts, with no shoes to go along with it. From what the blonde haired fisherman could see; Naruto was broke as a joke, and had no choice but to eat fish, "I guess you're right, I can't expect someone from the West 62nd District to be as rich as me." He shamelessly boasted as he waited for an unlucky fish to bite his bait, "I'll let you in on a secret though."

Naruto's eyes were glistening, "Oooh, what?"

"Those colorful fish you were eating are worth a fortune," Deidara laughed when he saw that he had Naruto hanging on his every word, and his eyes finally lit up when he dropped the last bit of information. He started to reel in when he felt something bite, but he still held his conversation with Naruto. "You seem like a growing boy, so you've probably got a house worth of rich-asshole fish swimming in your stomach right now, un."

"Awesome!" Naruto jumped up off of the ground and looked at the water with hopeful eyes. He was getting tired of sleeping on the grass and cutting his feet on the coarse ground of the district he lived in, something about it didn't sit right with him, and he had finally found a way out. He pointed a challenging finger at Deidara, "If I out fish you, I can make more money and finally get the hell out of District 62. It's better than the district I started in, but I want shoes god damn it!"

The blonde fisherman rolled his eyes at Naruto, "There's no way you could out-fish me, you don't even have a ro-" Deidara's jaw dropped when a cloud of smoke kicked up, and when it dissipated there were at least twenty Naruto's present now. "How the hell did you do that?" He nearly yelped in surprise when half the Naruto's transformed into a fishing rod identical to his, and all grinned at him accordingly.

"You said I couldn't do what?" Naruto had a foxy grin on his face and all of his clones scattered about the length of the river to find the expensive fish they could sell to nobles. The real Naruto sat down with his legs crossed, turning his head to look at Deidara with an evil smile. The competition was real now, "I'll give you some of the money, since you taught me how to fish, _sensei_." He said mockingly and Deidara punched him in the head in return.

With his other hand he brought the hook out of the water and furrowed his brow when he saw a measly toad attached to it, "Did you get all of the good fish already, un!?" He grabbed the slimy toad, but it fell out of his hand before he could squish it in anger. "If you get them all, I will rip you a new asshole you blonde haired dirt-ball!"

 **XxX**

"We should be protecting Yoruichi-sama," The girl said with her arms folded over one another, looking around the 62nd district in disgust. She didn't like being this far from her master, let alone the capital, but her partner seemed to be taking it all in stride. He hadn't even registered that she said something to him, "Uchiha, we're not all the way out here to sight see."

The boy with messy black haired blinked in response, and then offered a soft smile for his female counterpart, "You seem very concerned with Yoruichi-sama, yet she's the one who assigned us this mission." His eyes returned to the small town they were passing through, and he continued to scan his surroundings. He had never been this far from the capital before, "In a way, you're protecting her right now."

"You're right, Shisui," Sui-feng said with a reserved frown as they paced through the town. "The quicker we find the root of the problem, the quicker we can return to Yoruichi-sama's side."

There were reports of a massive rieatsu that was laced with all sorts of malicious energy passing through the districts and getting closer to the capital at an alarming rate and they were sent to investigate it. They had a standing order to either capture or kill the source, depending on what it was. Since their target could very well be a living, breathing being capable of sensing squads of shinigami honing in on its location, they had to move quietly, and that's how the two young guards were chosen by their captain.

They specialized in covert ops, so finding the problem without going unnoticed was child's play, and they happened to be two of the fastest their division had to offer.

The duo was simply scouting the town at this point, looking for leads. People from multiple towns said travelers from the farther away districts had experienced the energy first hand, and were shaken to the core. What it was stemming from was still a mystery, but the inhabitants of this town were telling Shisui that they felt the demonic energy lingering throughout the forest. Ever since it arrived in the forest, the whole 62nd district was out of whack.

All of the animals had ran away from the forest, all of the edible fish were scarce, and it was so terribly hot inside the forest that no normal person could hunt in those conditions. Shisui's eyes passed over a few denizens of the town, watching them walk by sweating profusely. They couldn't even get close to the river to get fresh water, so they had to travel to another district to bring refreshing h2o for their families.

"Do you think it's a hollow causing this?"

Shisui turned to look at Sui-feng upon her breaking his concentration, "No, it can't be." He stopped walking and took a look at the girl, seeing a small bead of sweat drip down the side of her face. "A hollow with this kind of power would have paved its way to this district in a path of destruction, and this town probably wouldn't exist anymore." He explained as he placed his finger on her face and wiped away the sweat for her.

Sui-feng raised her brow, "Then what?"

"I don't know," Shisui had no problem admitting as he gestured forward, and they continued walking through the civilian village. He scratched his broad nose, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for this anomaly. While it was a described as a something of an evil energy, there were no linkable deaths to it, and it mainly passed through calmly. The only thing that was worrisome was the path it was moving on, "but it's our job to find out."

 **XxX**

A rift in the very fabric of the 62nd district started to tear open, and a single masked creature poked its head through to see what was going on. Its yellow eyes shifted around wildly, looking behind itself cautiously, and then jumping out of the spatial distortion it had created. When it landed on the ground, a small imprint of its body was created from the impact.

The creature was at least sixteen feet tall, long black hair falling from its head, and a long, pointy noise protruding from its white mask. Its eyes continued to shift around crazily, before walking over to the cliff of the patch of land it was standing on. A wild grin appeared on its face when it looked down, seeing a river with twelve people fishing.

The energy exuding from the area excited the monster to no end, and it instantly launched itself over the cliff and tried to pounce on its prey from above.

 **XxX**

Naruto scratched his ass while fishing, "Dude, do you feel that?"

Deidara sucked his teeth, "No, un, stop trying to distract me." He looked at Naruto and frowned when he saw the pile of koi fish he had collected. The blonde fisherman mumbled curses under his breath about the 'damn kid stealing all my fish, un.' and continued to try his luck in fishing for his own valuable koi. He'd be damned if a newbie like Naruto outclassed him in something he had _just_ taught him less than a half an hour ago.

The blonde teenager decided to not think too much of his gut feelings now-a-days, and instead chose to revel in his newly acquired skill of fishing. If what Deidara said was true, he'd be able to eat, clothe himself, and find shelter in a better district in no time with the money he'd make, "If these fish are so rare, how come there are many in this river?"

The fisherman groaned out loud and dropped his rod onto the ground, "Hasn't anyone told you not to look a gift horse in the mouth?" He had listened to Naruto ramble the entire time they were fishing, questioning literally everything that he saw. For once he just wanted to reel in his precious fish in peace. "If I'm going to be your sensei, and you my kouhai, I think a life lesson is in or-"

From the woods, came someone who looked around the same age as Deidara, wearing a shihakushō and a sword strapped to his back. He offered a sincere smile to Deidara, who was admittedly staring at him like he had seen a ghost, which was true to a certain extent. Shisui raised his hands in a placating manner as he walked up to Naruto and Deidara, "I come in peace, I'm just looking for information."

Deidara got up from his seat alongside the river and threw his fishing rod away, "And why should I trust one of you slimy shinigami bastards!?"

"Because if I had a reason to cut you down, I would have already," Shisui tried to say without touching any soft spots of Deidara's, who seemed to have a gripe with shinigami. "The only reason I'm here, is because your kouhai is exuding a monstrous amount of energy that's dangerous to the public. I need him to come back with me to Seireitei," The messy-haired boy said to the duo, which made Naruto uncomfortable.

He didn't necessarily trust the oddly calm Shisui, and had also dropped his fishing rod just in case he needed to go on the defensive. For some reason Naruto felt the need to be ready to fight at all times, and the foreboding feeling of an exchange had been hanging over his head since he appeared in Rukongai, yet he didn't know why. In his mind, he was somewhat peaceful, but the feeling of dreading violence was always present, 'Who the fuck am I?'

It was a question he was constantly asking himself, since his mind that was harmless as a bird mere moments ago was analyzing the situation like a killer right now. His senses were starting to pick up subtleties as well, "I'm sorry, guy, but I'm with Deidara on this one. How can I trust you when you have someone else with you, waiting in the shadows?"

"She didn't agree with my method of direct approach," Shisui said loud enough for said partner to hear him. He knew if he tried to sneak up on them they would be found, "If I left it up to her, we would have killed you both and kept it moving, but you have potential, and I like to talk things about before I resort to violence."

Their first ever interaction was a lie, now he would always be wary of Shisui, "I can't go with you." Naruto stated flatly and got a frown from Shisui. It made him uneasy that one wrong move; Shisui would be at his throat. That wasn't a working relationship he wanted to be a part of, and what he and Deidara established seemed way more legitimate. "Deidara-sensei and I will pack up our stuff and leave."

Shisui sighed to himself, placing his hands upon the sheath of his katana. He couldn't just let Naruto roam free, "Don't say I didn't warn you, kid." It was a stupid decision on Naruto's part, since his orders were capture or _kill_ , and he wasn't one to not follow orders. He would do his best not to do anything fatal, just disable him enough to drag him back to Seireitei.

Naruto's muscles tensed when he saw Shisui place a hand on the sheath of his blade, and there was still the unidentified teammate hiding in the forest. At least it would be a fair match with Deidara fighting by side, that way they could make a clean getaway.

No, wait, Deidara was haphazardly collecting the rare fish once he saw that shit was about to hit the fan so to speak. He placed all of the captured fish in his bucket, but before he could make a run for it; a hollow crashed into the river and sent water flying everywhere. He had no choice but to jump away, losing his grip on the handle of the bucket and the remains of he and Naruto's endeavors were flapping all across the ground.

All of Naruto's clones dissipated upon the hollow crashing down among them, sweeping its arm across the length of the river and sending them back to Naruto. The monster had a wild grin upon seeing Deidara, Naruto, and Shisui, " **THIS IS GOING TO BE QUITE THE MEAL**!"

"That thing can talk!?" Naruto had to roll out of the way from being smashed by its gigantic hand.

Shisui drew his sword and dashed in with great speed. He leapt into the air and tried to slash down on the hollow, but the monster blocked the slash with its forearm, and blood dripped down the length the blade. The messy-haired shinigami furrowed his brow, the hollow flailing its arm and throwing Shisui away with a great amount of force. It laughed as it watched Shisui tumble across the ground with a pained expression on his face.

The black-haired shinigami sprung back up, but watched in awe as Naruto had done something he didn't even know was possible from what was supposed to be a simple Rukongai resident. The boy swiftly avoided the attacks of the hollow, while Deidara was once again scrambling to get the fish, and ran across the water, up the length of stone face that lead to a higher part of the district.

He leapt off of the wall and tried to attack the hollow from the higher ground. The blonde instinctively reached for a pouch that resided on the back of his waist, but it was nothing there, and ended up getting smacked out the air like an insect. Naruto went from looking like an impressive fighter to delusional, reaching for a weapon he didn't even have.

Shisui on the other hand showed off his impressive speed, disappearing and leaving an after image in his wake, before reappearing in the face of the hollow that attacked them. His arms were at his side, prepping for a powerful slash, that he followed through on, but only ended up nicking at the monster's long nose. The hollow grabbed Shisui's katana, which he thought he would be too prideful to release, but the boy let go of his sword and flipped back down to the ground.

He grit his teeth and took a deep breath, 'Any time now, Sui-feng.' Shisui usually had support in these kind of things, yet he was stuck trading blows with a hollow in the company of a stranger. Naruto was surprisingly effective though, "Aim for the mask, kid." They might have been enemies before, but there was a common goal for right now.

"Huh?" Naruto was once again punched across the length of the river, distracted by Shisui's advice, which made the shinigami smack his own forehead with his palm. The disgruntled soul jumped back onto the surface of the water and groaned, "Deidara, a little help here would be nice!"

"Hell no! I've fought too many of these things, un!"

Great.

Naruto formed a cross with his fingers, and two clones of himself popped into existence. Shisui continued to be amazed by Naruto's abilities, "Just what are you?" He asked while watching all three Naruto's flank the hollow on all sides, and decided to use the boy as a decoy. The black-haired shinigami disappeared from sight once again, leaving Naruto to handle the hollow for now.

The hollow tried to smash the trio of Naruto's with his hands, but they moved far too quickly to be killed like that. One of them latched onto his leg and started climbing up the length of the hollow, and while it was distracted dealing with one clone, the other two Naruto's did the same on the other side, and started getting close to its mask.

The monster had no choice but to smack its own body to rid itself of one of the Naruto's but the other two were too wily to be caught. The original Naruto was found grabbing onto the long nose of hollow, pulling himself up to stand on the width of it. It was a closest thing to a trapeze act Naruto would ever do, but it was working, "Now to finish your sorry ass once and for all."

Naruto held three fingers up and wind started to spiral around his hand. The wind started to take the shape of a blade and he thrust his arm back, before running across the hollow's nose. Before he could stab his attack through the mask, someone had beaten him to the punch, or should he say stab? Lest he wanted to be maimed, he had to bend backward to avoid a katana piercing through the hollow from behind.

The creature screamed in horrid pain as it started to fade into nonexistence, the source of the killing strike was Shisui, and as they both started to fall back into the water; they readjusted themselves and landed on top of the surface of the water. Naruto looked around and saw no signs of Deidara, instantly frowning, "Any reason that you almost killed me, asshole?"

"I had to be the one to deliver the finishing strike in order for the soul of the hollow to purified," Shisui explained, looking at Naruto with a hint of curiosity in his onyx eyes. The blonde noticed that Shisui had yet to sheath his blade, "I tried to get you both in one strike, but you're a wily opponent . . . what did you say your name was?"

"Naruto," The blonde said proudly.

"Well, Naruto, since you refuse to come back to Seireitei with me, I'll have to take you by force."

* * *

 **I decided to catch up on the Bleach Manga, and ended up reading Boruto too. Naruto dies? Why wouldn't I want to play with that concept? But for now, the fight you didn't know that you wanted to see, Naruto v. Shisui!** **Next Chapter: Death Water**


	2. Death Water

**Chapter Two ~ Death Water**

"Naruto," Shisui stared hard at the boy. His clothes were in rags, in desperate need of a haircut, and he had weird whisker markings on his face. The fact that he actually posed a threat though made him smile, he didn't even have a weapon, "Well my name is Uchiha Shisui." He would at least introduce himself before they exchanged blows.

'Uchiha,' Naruto's mind sat on that name for a long time, being so distracted that he barely avoided being slashed across the chest. He leapt backward and Shisui disappeared from his immediate line of vision, and once again he was forced on the defensive from a slash that came from behind him. 'Damn he's fast,' Naruto rolled forward faster than Shisui anticipated and kicked his katana out of his hand. As the sword was in the air, Naruto twisted his body and shot back at Shisui who was just now getting used to how fast Naruto moved.

They exchanged a few hand to hand shots, their styles contrasting, and both ended up punching each other in the face. Both of them stumbled away from each after nearly breaking one another's nose and grinned at each other. Naruto placed a hand over his nose that was starting to spout out blood, "Jeez, you hit harder than I thought." His mind was already jumbled, but the punch made it even worse. He was struggling to remember just what he was good at.

What made matters worse was that he wasn't even supposed to remember what he was good at. There weren't supposed to be any memories of his past life at all, but as Shisui's sword fell conveniently into his grasp; he was forced to go back to coming up with things on the fly. There were a lot of techniques and seals burned into his brain, but he couldn't connect to the ones that he remembered being his.

Shisui moved in and stabbed at Naruto from multiple angles, but the boy was proving to be quicker than an untrained traveler was supposed to be, "Come on kid, just give up," He tried to convince the stubborn Naruto, and the boy jumped away from the exchange, skidding across the water as he did so. The Uchiha twisted his sword in his grasp and sighed, "You're a knucklehead, you know that?" Naruto wasn't making this any kind of easy, and he wanted it to be over with. He had other things to deal with.

"Number One Hyperactive, Knucklehead actually," Naruto said out of instinct, and then covered his mouth in surprise when his lips moved on their own. Why the hell did he just say that? When was he ever the #1 Knucklehead? Why did he pride himself on that? He needed to get a grasp on his mind again, "I'm not going down without a fight, 'ttebayo!" Naruto grinned for a moment, but then his smile fell the moment he realized what he just said. Something was terribly wrong. He'd get to the bottom of it once he was done with Shisui.

"I don't really want to fight you," Shisui admitted, "just come with me to Seireitei."

"No."

The messy-haired Uchiha then disappeared so blindingly fast that Naruto stumbled back. The water from the river was kicked up high and started to form a circle around him. He had to block a few feint strikes from multiple copies of Shisui appearing through the barrier of water, but the moment he tried to strike back the copy faded into non-existence. He rolled out of the way of even more possibly fatal slashes, but at the speed Shisui was moving; he couldn't match it. The first cut appeared on his cheek, then on his arm, and then another appeared on his leg. As another Shisui appeared, he tried covering his chest with his forearms to block a fatal slash, and blood splashed into the water.

He tumbled across the river and out of the spinning vortex of water Shisui created, and was forced to dodge yet another stab by jumping high into the air. Shisui was way too damn fast to engage with in direct combat, and he had the advantage of a sword to deliver more lethal strikes on top of his already untraceable speed. 'How the hell am I supposed to beat this gu-' Naruto caught the sight of Shisui in his peripheral, bringing his blade down and cutting out a chunk of his shoulder.

The blonde was slammed back against the surface of the water; the only thing keeping him from going under was his own energy. His eyes averted upward and he saw Shisui mumbling something under his breath. After seeing the shinigami bolster his speed to another level, he didn't want to know what else he had up his sleeve, and tried to scramble to a stand, but fell back down. All the hits he had taken from Shisui were starting to add up.

As Shisui fell back to the ground gracefully, he was muttering an incantation, which he had now finished. Crackling yellow energy began to form around his free hand and he narrowed his eyes to focus on Naruto, " **Bakudō #4: Hainawa!** " The Uchiha threw his hand forward and the rope snapped out at Naruto, and the blonde tried so desperately to escape. It wrapped around his ankle and dragged him to Shisui's feet, and gradually wrapped around his entire body, "You surprised me, being able to fight against a hollow and not die, but you're still a far cry from what a shinigami is capable of. Don't fret though, if you return to Seireitei with me you can acquire this strength."

The trapped Naruto looked up at Shisui and locked eyes with him. That same familiar feeling he got from Deidara was flowing through his body when he met eyes with the Uchiha, "Dragging me back like a prisoner isn't a convincing way to recruit, Uchiha-teme." Another verbal tic made Naruto mentally cringe, but he was trying to make a point here. "I can figure out my power on my own, I don't need your help."

Shisui stared at Naruto impassively, "I tried giving you options, kid." He yanked on his end of the rope to make the bind on Naruto's body tighter, but the moment he did that; Naruto… popped? A small cloud of smoke came up and revealed a log in his place. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes and looked around, not finding Naruto anywhere. "Are you serious?"

"Ha! Now take this!"

 **XxX**

(In The Forest – With Deidara & Sui-Feng)

A huge gust of wind ravaged through the forest, and Deidara was nearly blown away from the force of the sudden winds. Through the small wind storm that came out of no where, he still kept a firm grip on the handle of his bucket. He'd be damned if he let Mother Nature take away the fish Naruto so generously collected for him.

Sui-feng had to block her face from the strong winds that were kicked up out of no where. She grit her teeth while standing on a branch, across from Deidara. First sweltering heat, then windstorms, and to add the icing to the cake Deidara was barely acknowledging her as a worthy opponent. As far as she knew, he was just like Naruto and nothing more than a dweller out in the 62nd district looking for his, how dare he undermine her.

"I don't have anything to do with this, un!" Deidara was getting extremely annoyed by the winds that were not ceasing, and the fact that his path was being blocked by a girl that was smaller than him. He held up his bucket of fish, "I'm just a fisherman for hire, not some damn monster!" Deidara knew what shinigami were, and what they were meant to fight against. He didn't fit the criteria of any of those things by a long shot.

Sui-feng shot off of the branch and tried to land a quick punch on Deidara, but he blocked the strike with his bucket, which now a large dent in it. She followed it up with another punch that he blocked once more with his trusty bucket, and the girl growled. She was being held off by a peasant and a _bucket_ , there was no way he was this skilled at anything combat related. Sui-feng tried to hit him with a high-arcing kick, but Deidara ducked under her leg and managed to land a quick punch to her gut.

The blonde followed his lucky punch up by smashing his wooden bucket against Sui-feng's head and subsequently she was smacked in the face by a moist fish. Deidara leapt from the tree branch and tumbled onto the ground, "See what you made me do!?" He saved the stray fish that were about to hit the ground and hugged them against his chest. The boy tried to make a run for it after that, but his path was cut off once more.

Sui-feng appeared in front of Deidara, he already had too much momentum so he couldn't do anything about her striking him in the face and putting him on his ass. The girl looked _highly_ irritated, "I knew I recognized you." A bead of sweat rolled down Deidara's face when she said that, and she shook her head, "You're the one who was caught snooping around Shihōin compound not too long ago. I can't let you leave."

"Heh, caught but not captured," Deidara joked but yelped in surprise when Sui-feng quickly drew her sword and tried to slash on his downed body. He lifted his feet and trapped the blade between his geta and jerked her forward. Sui-feng furrowed her brow and continued to try and inch the blade closer to Deidara's chest, but only received a few shaves of wood from his geta for her cause.

With only his feet he threw her off balance, and rolled out of the way when she gained her bearings and tried a hack away a limb to ease her mind. He still had the rare koi fish hugged against his chest, so the only option he had was to dance around her attacks with impeccable footwork and only further irritate Sui-feng. She growled lowly as he managed to avoid all her attempts to cut him, "I hope you value your life more than those fish!" Sui-feng stabbed her blade forward with great speed and Deidara's eyes went wide. The only way he could avoid it was bend backwards, the tip of the wakizashi nearly stabbing through his nose, and groaning in pain when he felt a crack in his back.

She held her position, the sword still hovering over Deidara's body, while he was still bending backwards like he was trying to set a record in limbo. It went silent for a few seconds and she chuckled quietly, "I know you can't hold that stance for long." With no hands to support him, he could either try and stand up, or fall to the ground. Either way was a win for Sui-feng, since the moment he tried to straighten his posture; she could drive her sword right through him, and if he fell down she could readjust her position much faster than he could his.

Deidara was breathing heavily after expending so much energy, and right now his view consisted of a deadly sword hovering above his head, so that certainly didn't help. She was right to assume that he would tire his back out after too long, and his options sure were limited as far as maneuvering her blade. 'Am I going to have to let go of these fish?' He asked himself, but couldn't commit to the idea. He traveled too far to let himself be captured and his fish destroyed by Sui-feng.

Just as she had anticipated, Deidara fell to the ground, and she tumble-rolled right on top of him. She poked the tip of her sword at his neck and faintly smiled when blood started to trickle down, "This is the end of you." Just as she was about deliver the finishing blow, she let out a girly squeak when something poked her in her knee and he managed to move his head out of the way from being stabbed.

Deidara mustered enough strength to lean his body forward and smash his forehead into Sui-feng's and she was sent flying across the forest floor. He was still breathing heavily, fish still nestled to his chest, and he slowly pushed himself off of the ground, "Sorry I had to poke you there, but you were making it really hard for me, un." He said offhandedly and the girl growled as she got up off of the ground.

Her cheeks were suddenly flushed with blood when she realized what just happened. Sui-feng's eyes caught sight of a bulge in Deidara's pants that he had somehow used to his advantage. He was definitely going to pay now, "How dare you?"

"Hey, you were swinging your sword around, I think it's only fair I use mine," Deidara moved one of his hands and readjusted his boxers while Sui-feng continued to stare at him with nothing but hate in her eyes. She obviously couldn't appreciate his tactics, but that was fine, "I've had fun, but I think I'll take my leave now, un." Despite saying that, he didn't move a muscle because of how intensely Sui-feng was looking at him, and he knew she outclassed in him speed, so really he was just talking to piss her off.

Growing tired of Deidara's games, Sui-feng gripped her blade tightly and pointed it at the blonde, " _Sting all enemies to death_." Her sword was encased in a blinding white light that Deidara had to shield his eyes from.

He didn't want to see what happened next, so he decided to use the opportunity of her powering up to get a head start on running away.

 **XxX**

(Naruto v. Shisui)

"Take this!" The real Naruto was behind Shisui with his hands held out. His hands were covered in blue energy that started creating a vacuum torrent of wind. Everything in front of him was currently being attracted to him like a magnet, and even Shisui couldn't move fast enough to escape the range of his technique. Trees threatened to uproot from Naruto's force and pieces of debris flew past the Uchiha was being dragged against his will in Naruto's direction.

To add insult to injury, Naruto's wind was cutting him at a rapid rate. His shihakushō was being torn to shreds and the subtle nicks at his skin were starting to annoy him. He could barely move his body, and he was being dragged right into the brunt of Naruto's attack, so he had to think fast unless he wanted to see Naruto had in store for a follow up. Shisui shut his eyes and sighed, 'Are you really about to make me do this?'

Naruto smirked, finally having the upper hand between him and Shisui, holding his vacuum wave up so he could reel the boy in and knock him out with one final blow. As of right now, he was simply mimicking techniques that were in his brain until he could remember what he was truly capable of, and so far it was working. Naruto's own cut up face twitched when he saw Shisui trying to reposition himself.

" **Hado #4: Byakurai!** " He stopped resisting Naruto's highly effective wind vacuum and sent himself flying toward the boy with his index finger facing Naruto. There was pale blue energy crackling around his hand, that was only getting stronger as time went on.

Since he was willing Shisui toward him, the boy had momentum on his side, and there was no way he could avoid the human bullet that was Uchiha Shisui. He instantly dropped the technique he was using to suck Shisui toward him, but wasn't fast enough to completely avoid being hit with the spell. Naruto leapt out of the way, but the beam of compressed lightning still shot through his lower left abdomen and he instantly clutched at his stomach that was now freely leaking blood.

Naruto couldn't stand up on his own any longer, while Shisui was still flying in toward him with sword drawn. 'Shit,' He thought to himself when he saw Shisui trying to cut him down and tried to think of a way out of this. Naruto was exhausted, while the messy-haired shinigami looked like he could go for a few more rounds. 'I need some defense, c'mon, think of—' All of this was happening in a split second, and before he could even react to being slashed; his body reacted for him, and a compressed shield of wind came into existence right before him.

The Uchiha found himself clashing with Naruto's fast reacting wind and frowned, "That wind is pretty versatile, Naruto." He complimented but still held the distaste on his face. Every time he was about knock the roaming blonde out, the boy came up with a counter, and by the looks on his face when he does it; he didn't even know he could do such things. "Give up, Naruto; you can't outlast me in a battle of attrition." He was growing tired of going back and forth with the boy, even though for the most part he had done more damage than Naruto did to him.

"Yeah, I know," Naruto had no problem admitting. He could see that Shisui was clearly stronger than him, and more experienced. As far as his memory knew, this was his first real fight with an intelligent being since he arrived in Soul Society and he was operating on pure muscle memory he didn't know he had and creativity from the clouded memories of his past life. Tapping into said clouded memories, Naruto manipulated the shield into a smaller scale version of the vacuum and brought Shisui forth.

The Uchiha was caught off guard and prepared to move out of the way, but the moment Naruto sucked him in; he once again changed the wind and sent him flying across the river before he could even process what was going on. After previously admitting he knew Shisui was stronger than him, Naruto used this opening to dash across the river and into the thick of the forest. He'd be damned if he let this fight go on any longer.

 **XxX**

(Deidara v. Sui-feng)

Deidara had never seen a shinigami's shikai in his life, and he didn't want to know its abilities, but Sui-feng seemed insistent on educating him. His eyes were locked on the black and gold gauntlet that was wrapped around her arm, his eyes following the chain that was linked to a blade on her middle finger. If that didn't say 'fuck you' he didn't know what did, and he was now backpedaling away from her advance after being cut off.

Judging by the way she was striking, and her already great speed; she was trying to end this _fast_. The blonde knew she was very capable of doing so, yet still clung onto the fish in his endeavor to run away. Sui-feng moved in at high speeds, planting a kick in Deidara's face that made him skid backwards through the dirt, but still held his footing. The girl ran in once more, charging at Deidara with a series of high and low kicks that he was deftly avoid, all while hugging the koi to his chest.

They danced along the forest floor, Sui-feng smiling much to Deidara's chagrin, while his face was focused on not being swept off of his feet. Through the series of kicks, Sui-feng snuck in a quick stab from her bladed finger that made an incision right above his ribs. She moved to follow up for another stab to the same spot, but he blocked the strike with his forearm, which much to her delight made him drop the fish to the ground, "So you're finally taking this serious?"

"I didn't like the way that first stab felt, un," Deidara had her in his range and managed to land a punch to her face that made her breakaway from their brief bout. She didn't seem too rattled by it though, an amused laugh when she saw him look at the two wounds she just created were covered by butterfly shaped stamps, "What the hell did you do?"

"A scum like you has no right to know," Sui-feng smirked at his troubled expression. She wouldn't give away her secrets just yet, since she would much rather surprise Deidara with the effects of her abilities.

Deidara grinded his teeth together as he braced himself for actual battle with Sui-feng. He had only fought hollows during his time in Rukongai, and they were for the most part brainless. Sui-feng on the other hand was smart, fast, and dangerous. The fact that he had gotten her to this point made himself mentally pat on his own back, since he had just now freed his hands for this fight. If he had any talents in any areas, it was definitely pissing people off with his words, and he pissed off Sui-feng enough for her to activate her shikai.

Now it was time to show his actual abilities.

Sui-feng started to charge in, but before she could advance a compressed blast of wind smashed right into her and sent her flying across the forest, a few trees falling down from the impact.

Ok maybe he wouldn't have to.

Deidara turned around to see a profusely bleeding Naruto running in from the river at high speeds. The fisherman couldn't fight back his grin, "Ha, kouhai, you look like shit!" Deidara's jaw dropped when Naruto grabbed him with surprising strength and now they were both running away from the forest.

"You look like shit too asshole," Naruto poked back as they ran through the forest, and he looked over his shoulder where he felt the rieatsu of Uchiha Shisui getting closer with every step he took. He remembered Deidara saying he was rich before they got into this whole mess, "Sensei, you said you were rich, doesn't that mean you should have a house we can hideout at."

"Do you know how far that is, un!?" Deidara shook his head in disappointment. He was offended that Naruto thought he had _any_ kind of property in the 62nd district, or anything close to it. After getting over that fact, he actually came up with an idea, "My asshole grandma actually doesn't live too far from here. If we can outlast these dickwads, I think we'll be able to hide out there."

Naruto nodded, letting Deidara lead the way, but something fading in and out of his ears made him wary as he ran. From what he figured out during their fight, Shisui was faster than all hell, and it seemed like the death god was holding back to save energy. Who knows what else the messy-haired shinigami had up his sleeve?

" _Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!_ "

Fuck.

 **XxX**

 **Deidara has a grandma? Naruto's stealing everybody's moves? Yeah, it's the afterlife; anything goes. Next Chapter: Die The Fastest!**


	3. Never Ask A Woman

**Chapter Three ~ Never Ask A Woman Her Age**

"You're a wily bastard, kouhai," Deidara complimented as he walked in from another room. Despite his clothes being horribly burned, only a piece around his shoulder hanging limply remained; he was satisfied with the outcome of their little escapade. Aside from the third degree burns and the predatory butterfly stamp from Sui-feng, it left a hell of a first impression from Naruto, "Care to explain how you did that?"

"Shut up," Naruto on the other hand wasn't in a good as mood as Deidara, and he was currently rolling around on the floor nursing the burns all over his torso, and still had to deal with the gaping hole in his stomach. If they went untreated, they would probably leave a permanent mark on his skin, and there was no way in hell he wanted that. His clothes had been completely ruined, currently rolling around in a burnt pair of boxers as he tried to ease the pain of nearly being scorched alive by Shisui's kido. "Can I get some bandages, water, or _something_?" He cried out, but only got an amused laugh from Deidara.

"That kid got you pretty good, un," Deidara sat down on top of mat on the wooden floor of the small shack they were currently hiding out in. After having his ass handed to him by so many hollows and shinigami for meddling in their business, he was used to returning to home base with a few scratches to show for it. He rested his arms on the wooden table that sat in the center of the room and cupped his cheek in his hand, "You know rolling around isn't going to make that any better for you, right?"

"I know!" Naruto yelled out and finally shot up to try and sit normally, but the stinging pain from his wounds was eating away at him. It wouldn't be long before he ran out of the secluded shack and tried to jump into a body of water. His eyes focused on Deidara, who seemed to be taking it all in stride, "How the hell are you dealing with this so easily!?"

Deidara shrugged and continued to watch Naruto twitch uncontrollably with a sly grin. His eyes averted to the doorway that led to the room he had just came from and frowned upon seeing who exactly was walking through, "Biwako, Naruto. Naruto, Biwako," He rolled his eyes as the woman now wore the same sly grin had on his face mere moments ago. She was middle-aged woman with brown hair, currently tied into a high ponytail, and wrinkles around her eyes, which were currently covered by a white pair of cat-eye sunglasses. Her green and pink floral haori swung with her every step, and the white silk scarf situated around her neck demanded attention as well.

She was gaudy to say the least, and Naruto could see as much. The woman had a gold ring on her ring finger that she held out toward Deidara, "You must really be in trouble to come and visit little old me." When the boy said nothing about her expensive new ring, she put directly in his face, "Are you blind? Can you not see this fantastic piece of jewelry?" She then smacked Deidara upside the head and he groaned.

"Who's dick did you su-" Deidara was slapped upside his head once more to make him shut up, remembering why she shouldn't let him talk in the first place. He always seemed to say the wrong thing, "I doubt old man Kuchiki is jacking his jollies off to you anymore, so who is it now?" Deidara asked with an arched brow and she simply smiled in return.

"A new toy, but that's beside the point," Biwako's eyes shifted to Naruto, and the boy could see as much from behind her sunglasses. "I see you've made a new friend, who is he?"

"Na-"

"Naruto," Deidara cut him off as he continued on with his grandmother. "He's not up for grabs either you crazy old bat, I'm taking him under my wing, un, so he can learn what the finer things Soul Society has to offer are the right way." The blonde's head swiveled back to his self-proclaimed kouhai and he smiled, "Isn't that right, kouhai?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," the irritating pain that was third degree burns at the least was still a pressing issue though, as cute as it was to watch Deidara and his oddly familiar grandmother to bicker. His eyes focused on the older woman, "But first I need some medical attention, or I won't be able to move right for a few days."

Biwako pursed her lips, folding her arms over each other as she looked down at Naruto, and then looked at her adoptive grandson with the same expression. They were nearly burnt to crisp by a trained Shinigami's kido and it was evident, "And what will I be getting out of this?" Naruto's eyes widened, Biwako never striking him as the selfish type, but judging by her attitude he shouldn't have been surprised. All the talk of the 'finer things' between her and her grandson had to mean something, "If I heal you, which I'm fully capable of doing; you have to do something for me Goldie."

Naruto's mouth twitched at being called 'Goldie,' which was definitely a new nickname in his book. He wrinkled his brow and sighed, "Fine, what do you want me to do?"

The woman held her hand up and wiggled an empty ring finger, "I want you to go steal my wedding ring back from that bastard Kuchiki." She then patted her grandson on the head, "Consider it the first mission for your good old Biwako-bāchan." An irritated groan from Deidara made her flick the boy's ear, "It's how Deidara-kun here became my grandchild, sticking his neck out for a poor old lady so she could get her possessions back."

"It's mostly stealing back belongings her ex-boyfriends bought for her and took back in spite, she's a complete bitch in a relationship," Deidara told his new friend Naruto despite said bitch standing right behind him. Instead of hitting him on the head, she nodded in agreement, and then the two of them laughed. Kami, they were weird, "I'm pretty sure she's done the 'dance' with every n-"

Now she hit him on his head to keep him from embarrassing her in front of their guest. What she did to acquire things was her business, and then there's promptly after when it was time to run a heist against whatever asshole noble she had just ripped off, "I plan on locking this one down though, I think he may be the one." She showed off the ring once more and then held her hand to her chest, thinking warmly of whomever the new mystery man was, "Now do you accept my offer, Naruto-kun, or will you let those burns start to bubble and become disgusting?"

"I guess I accept."

Biwako clapped her hands and Deidara grinned, "Nice to know you're not the hero-type, un," the fisherman said as he stood up with a pained groan, and geared up to leave the room, "Now let's get this medic show on the road, these wounds aren't going to heal themselves old lady."

Biwako clicked her tongue as she walked off into the other room, while Deidara followed. She knew Naruto would come crawling in sooner rather than later given how burned he was, so she didn't need to pester him to follow. He instantly heard bickering from another room, but he was still sitting down on the mat thinking about what had just transpired.

Other than plotting to steal from one of the more prominent clans he heard about on the rumor mills during his short time in Rukongai, he couldn't shake the familiarity he felt with Biwako; a warm feeling almost. He couldn't attach the flamboyant personality on her to her face, but he couldn't really draw up anything about her other than her face, and maybe her name. The blonde knew he was anomaly with his memories from his past life still a fuzzy mess, but they were still there, and that wasn't normal. Biwako had zero recollection of her past life, so whether she was a calm, modest woman before; she would never know, but Naruto had this _feeling_ about her.

He decided to ignore for now, struggling to push himself up, but instantly fell to the ground after a sudden feeling washed over him, and his eyes widened in realization. 'What the hell was that?' For a brief second, a bunch of images flashed in his mind and he didn't know why. It was enough to bring him to his knees once again, which was the most uncomfortable part of the process, because he couldn't have that being a frequent thing.

Deidara stepped into the doorway that led into the other room with a crinkled facial expression, "You just gonna lay on the floor, or come in here, un?" He walked in looking better than he left. A replacement shirt, and bandages covering everything from his neck down to his waist, arms included. The woman worked fast, "I can leave you there if you want."

Naruto shook off the cobwebs from his fall and got up, his muscles still feeling terrible, but willed his way toward Deidara, "You're an asshole, sensei."

"I know that, but that's my specialty," Deidara caught Naruto before he fell over and carried him into the room. "Tonight, you're going to learn how to be a man, Deidara-style."

What the hell had he gotten himself into?

 **XxX**

(Borders of Northern Rukongai – Unknown District)

Sui-feng sucked her teeth as she sheathed her sword. She and Shisui had been led on a wild goose chase to the northern parts of the West District, and they were almost in an entirely different sector now. It would have taken days for a regular soul to cover as much ground, but she wasn't regular, or _slow_ by any means. The girl placed her hands on her hips as she turned around from the now empty land with something of a scowl on her face.

Somehow, someway; Naruto and Deidara managed to give them the slip, and he replaced their bodies with whatever cloning technique he used. She was irritated to say the least, and wasting the ability of her shikai on a mere clone was infuriating to no end. They had been chasing after clones for hours, and she had just now gotten rid of the last one.

The girl balled up her fist and mentally swore revenge on both Naruto and Deidara. They were the most annoying blondes she had ever met, save for twelfth division captain and his lieutenant, but that was for another time, since Shisui dropped down from the trees with a pronounced frown on his face. He was just as upset as she was, "They got away." She hated to state the obvious, but it needed to be said. "We should have split up."

"We _did_ split up and still ended up like this," Shisui shut his eyes and sighed. He placed his sword back in its sheath and folded his arms over one another. He walked past Sui-feng and started to think of their next step, "When he divides his reiryoku like that, it's completely even, so it's impossible to track an original, but now all that energy is returned to him, it should be like finding him the first time."

"We're hours away from where he was, so he could be too far to track down in a reasonable time frame," Sui-feng wanted sever either of the blonde's head from their annoying shoulders with a swift swing of her blade, but from what she could see; it could be a few days before she got that chance. When that time did come she'd make sure she enjoyed every waking minute of it, "For now, I say we return to Yoruichi-sama and at least update her of the situation. The Naruto boy isn't hostile unless engaged, when we return to Rukongai we'll be better equipped to deal with him."

Shisui silently nodded as they now changed their direction to head back to their base of operations. Maybe they would pass Naruto on their return home, but he highly doubted it. The blonde was a wily opponent in every way possible, and would probably be even harder to track down than the initial attempt. Hell, he even had experience fighting a shinigami to build upon, and from what he could see; Naruto was just getting a grasp of what he was truly capable of, and that meant there was room for growth.

The next time they crossed paths, he couldn't take it easy on him in any capacity, unless he wanted to end up cut to pieces by the boy's uncanny control of the wind.

Damn kid.

 **XxX**

(Biwako's Shack – Three Hours Later)

Biwako watched as the sun was starting to fall, and the Rukongai skies were shifting to a more orange color as it transitioned into night. She watched the transition on the porch on her finely crafted wooden shack, which looked modest in nature. The woman took more pride in her jewels and tailored garments than living in a humongous house. Big compounds were for clan heads with big egos trying make up for what the areas they were lacking in.

At least that was how she saw it.

Only people with weak willpower splurged on such accommodations, and naturally as a woman she had a stronger will than any man she ever met, which is why she always ended up getting what she wanted from them. Deidara poked fun at her doing disgusting things to get what she wanted, but that was rarely ever the case. Ever since she arrived in Rukongai, some man was always trying to 'save' her and make her life better, who was she to tell a gentleman no?

If you were weak enough in her eyes, she'd take advantage; which was the case in a boy named Naruto, who came stumbling up to her porch with two heavy buckets of fish in each hand. Biwako lowered her sunglasses and smiled, "Back so soon, Naruto-kun?" She asked with a bit of humor in her voice. Ever since she healed Naruto's burns, she had him working nonstop in anticipation of his first 'mission' to get her wedding ring back.

He dropped the buckets on the ground in front of her and let out a sigh of relief, "That was harder than you think it is." The tired boy crawled onto the porch to sit with Biwako, joining her in an impromptu session of staring at the sky. "Do you really think it was a good idea for me to go back out alone that fast?"

"You won't be hearing from the gotei for a few days at least, they'll go back to Seireitei to report what happened and come back better equipped to catch you," Biwako said casually, as she lifted a steaming hot cup of tea off of the ground and took a sip. The shocked expression on Naruto's face was priceless, and she gently slapped his hand. "Don't worry, you'll be alright. From what Deidara told me, you were handling the shinigami quite well until you tried to runaway."

Something went off in the old ladies mind that made her slightly tilt her head, "Where exactly did you learn to fight?"

"I didn't, I kind of just react to-" Without warning Biwako threw her hot tea cup right at Naruto and it slammed into an quickly forming wall of wind, before falling to the ground and spilling everywhere. Biwako stood up so her clothes wouldn't be stained by the tea and walked off of the porch, "What the hell was that for?"

"I wanted to see how you'd react," She had a grin on her face now. "That's nothing I've ever seen before; your handle on your reiryoku is second to none. And you say you just react to what's going on?" Naruto nodded and she nodded in admiration. "Your control over that is remarkable, but yet you can't control your rieatsu, I don't understand."

"Rieatsu? What the hell are you yapping about?" Naruto was still on edge after nearly being burned again by hot tea and Biwako was spitting nonsense.

"You really are clueless, aren't you boy?" Biwako said in a teasing manner, her previously folded arms fell to her side and suddenly everything got heavier. For scant seconds, Naruto could barely breathe, let alone move, and his mind was almost frozen trying to process Biwako's spiritual pressure. She folded her arms once more and everything went away, "That's rieatsu, and you expel a lot of it. That's why the Gotei 13 came trying to hunt you down, because you have no control over it and ended up making it hard for regular souls trying to travel."

"Well how can I control it?"

"I can show you a few tricks before you go and get my ring back so you don't get killed," Biwako smiled when she saw Naruto lighten up. She could tell he felt bad at unknowingly hurting regular denizens of Soul Society, and she would be happy to help, even if it was mostly for her own benefit. If she sent Naruto in as is, she knew he could handle himself combat wise, but as far as the whole sneaking in thing; it would be crazy to think he wouldn't get caught. Any one with a heartbeat would sense him the moment he stepped in the compound.

"Geez, Biwako-bāchan, you're stronger than you look," Naruto complimented as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"With the people I've known, you tend to pick up a few things when you're in their presence," Biwako said as she turned away from Naruto and stared at sky once more. It was calming for her, "You must be new here. You should know not to underestimate anybody no matter what they look like. There are souls here older than I am that look like children."

Getting his ass handed to him by a kid didn't sound fun at all, but that now beckoned the question of, "Wait, so how old are you?"

Biwako's head craned toward Naruto slowly, lowering her sunglasses so he could see her eyes, "You should have learned this in your past life, and in the afterlife. _Never_ ask a woman how old she is, you really must be wet behind the ears." Her head turned forward and returned to watching the skies.

"I met a lady like you in my past life; she was old but liked to play young. She was my bāchan too actually," Naruto said it casually, but Biwako was now full out staring at him with her sunglasses taken off. He hadn't even realized what he said until it was already out in the open, "What?" He asked himself more than Biwako. His brain had this habit of shooting words out of his mouth for him lately, and he didn't know how to react. It's like there were certain trigger words that would bring back a locked away memory.

"What did you just say?"

"You remind of my original bāchan, that's all," Naruto tried to play it off, but his words weren't making the situation any better. "So you're telling me I'm the only person who can remember their past life?"

"Yes, Naruto," Biwako walked up to the porch and stood over the boy with serious eyes now. The playful grandma role was long gone, "There's a reason Shinigami perform konso and send souls to Rukongai _without_ their memory. If everyone remembered their past life, they would spend their entire existence dwelling on the past, trying to find their departed loved ones in soul society, or trying to get back to the world of the living and see the ones they left behind. This is supposed to be a new beginning."

Naruto was taken aback, he didn't remember a whole lot from his past life, but it would leak out whenever something reminded him of it. In this instance it was Biwako, and her putting herself in the position to be his 'bāchan.' It took him back to when he was alive, but only certain details filtered through, and everything else was blurry. He grinded his teeth together, "So you don't ever think about how ended up here? You just continue to live your life like you didn't _die_ at some point?"

"I try not to. It's a terrible existence, and I would much rather enjoy what I have now. Soul Society has given me beautiful grandchildren, a lot of wealth, and a new reason to live," Biwako reached inside her haori and suddenly pulled out a fan, smacking Naruto on the forehead with it. He winced in pain while she promptly opened it, hiding her face, "It's better to leave those things in the past, or it will drive you mad. Trust me, Naruto-kun."

Naruto pursed his lips, actually at a loss for words. He wanted to heed to Biwako's advice, and try not to dwell on the past, but each time he attempted to do so; he's slapped in the face with another reminder of just exactly who he was, and what he left behind. He hadn't died hundreds of years ago either, he had only been in Rukongai for _months_. Not much could have changed in the world of the living, and he just had this irritating feeling that it needed his help.

"Quit all of this mushy shit, un," Deidara walked onto the porch and lifted Naruto off of the ground by his collar and stood him up. He then pointed an accusing finger at Biwako, "What I did tell you about teaching my kouhai about life, old lady? It's my job to drop gems on my little student, so shut your mouth." Biwako instantly hit him on his head with her fan and he stumbled back, rubbing at the newly created red spot on his forehead.

"Shut your mouth, boy," Biwako mumbled a curse under her breath as she put her sunglasses back on her face and went inside the shack, leaving her two 'grandsons' to do whatever they pleased.

"It's about time we hit the road, kiddo," Deidara was holding something behind his back and then suddenly threw it in Naruto's face. The boy caught it with a dry expression and the blonde fisherman had to fight back the urge to strangle the 'ungrateful bastard.' He stomped his geta against the porch and pointed at the identical pair Naruto held in his hand, "Put them on, damn it! The most beautiful accessory any kouhai of the Almighty Deidara can have to travel through Rukongai."

Naruto was thoroughly unimpressed by the choice in footwear, but hell, shoes were shoes. The blonde hesitantly slipped into the wooden sandals and grit his teeth at how uncomfortable they were. How did Deidara think these were at all beautiful, or valuable to have? He took a few test steps and tried to get use to wearing them, "The first chance I get to ditch these, I will."

"Trust me, you'll love them by the morning," Deidara wrapped his arm around Naruto's shoulder and guided him off of Biwako's porch. "Now, we need to make a few pit stops before we go to the Kuchiki compound, so follow me, kouhai. Tonight you're going to see just how many connections you're sensei has in Rukongai."

Deidara walked off clicking his geta happily, while Naruto had no choice but to follow. He was asking himself multiple times over just what he was getting into, but something told him to keep traveling with Deidara. Hopefully his gut instinct would make sense soon.

The fisherman was humming something to himself as he led him away from the shack, and Naruto tried to tune him out for the most part. Deidara had good intentions for the most part, but he was nothing short of abrasive as far as personalities came, and it was almost complicated to deal with. The moment he met him, he put koi fish over his own life, and then he basically referred to his grandmother as a woman who do _anything_ to get what she wanted right in her face, yet he took him under his wing without hesitation. He was a character to say the least.

They had only walked for twenty minutes before they approached a shack that was almost identical to the one they had just left. Naruto looked around to make sure he hadn't just walked in a circle, and when his eyes returned to Deidara's form in the dark, walking up the porch to bang on the door; he knew they somewhere different. If it were Biwako's they would have just walked in like they did the first time.

" _Go away asshole!_ " A voice shouted from inside the house and Deidara laughed.

"Don't tell me you're still mad at me, un!"

" _You almost made me lose my job you piece of shit! Do you know how hard I worked to get that gig? No, because you're a lazy piece of garbage with no work ethic or ambitions in life other than to be a fucking thief._ "

"Come on, Tayuya-chan, don't be that way," Deidara pleaded through the door and it suddenly swung open and a pair of female hands were wrapped around his throat. While Deidara was being choked, Naruto was trying to figure out if he should help out or not. Technically he was being killed by an angry red-head, and it didn't seem like she was going stop anytime soon, but for some reason it felt like he deserved. The fisherman managed to choke out the words, "K-Kouhai!"

Naruto took a few steps forward and Tayuya looked up at him all of sudden, dropping Deidara to the ground and started backing away. The blonde's eyebrows crinkled, trying to figure out why him trying to save his sensei made her run away, shutting the door hard behind her. He at least went and helped his fisherman friend off of the ground, "You're an idiot."

"You saved me! Thank god for you lack of skill, un," Deidara patted his kouhai's face gently and smiled at him. Naruto took that as an insult and Deidara rolled his eyes at how upset Naruto looked, "Okay, fine you big baby; get away from the door so I can talk to her without you crushing like a bug with your rieatsu."

Tayuya was currently sitting against her door breathing heavily after being subjected to what felt like hell itself. She saw Deidara peeking through the door and hastily opened it before dragging the blonde inside, catching a glimpse of a sorry looking Naruto standing far away from her shack. She flipped the middle finger at the boy and slammed her door, "He's staying outside, fucking asshole. I hate people who flex their power like that. How am I supposed to fucking breath if he's just walking around with the rieatsu equivalent to a teenager seeing a naked lady for the first time?"

"Great, you calmed down," Deidara said sarcastically as he went to sit down at the same wooden table his grandmother had in the center of the room. "Don't mind Naruto-kun, he's new here and is still getting the hang of this whole soul society thing. He'll learn in due time, but back to _us_ , Tayuya-chan."

"What about _us_ , dickface?" Tayuya hated Deidara more than life itself, yet he always appeared at her doorstep asking for a favor. Damn thief, "I told you to stay away from me after that stunt you pulled last time. I can't cover your ass every time you fuck up, Deidara."

"I know, I know, un," Deidara had messed up in the past, but today was a new day, "but you seem to forget who got you that sweet gig with Kuchiki clan in the first place."

"Biwako-bāchan," Tayuya remembered perfectly. Whatever angle he was trying to use was failing horribly, "You haven't done shit for me but cause me trouble."

"And everything Biwako does, I have my hands in, so _I_ got you that job. They needed help around the compound and Biwako and I pulled some strings to get you in there, so now it's time for some payback for how great we've made your life." He looked around one of the many safe houses Biwako owned and saw how Tayuya got acquainted in it, "I need you to get me in the compound tomorrow, everything else is on me."

"Why should I help you, dickface?" Tayuya furrowed her brow.

"Because this is for Biwako, not me, consider it paying it forward for this nice house she gave you. One of the few Kuchiki didn't take back from her. It'd be a shame if I-" Tayuya punched Deidara right in the face and tried to break his nose with no remorse. He rocked back and forth nursing his now bloody nose and let out curses as she shook her fist, "Jeez, just get me where I need to be, un!"

"Only for Biwako, I hate you dickface, and I've been waiting to do that for quite some time," She got up from her seat and walked back to her door to take a peek outside. Naruto was still standing out there with the same sorry looking expression on his face, "Please don't tell me his sorry ass is coming with you."

"It's his first job for the old lady, I have to," Deidara knew the risk that came with bringing Naruto, but it was his mission after all. Really it was just him tagging along because he had nothing better to do, but he'd never outwardly admit that. He would cover it with manly sensei-kouhai bonding time or something, "Don't worry, I'll whip him into shape. Just tell me when you're clocking in so I knew when to roll."

"Tomorrow night, and you motherfuckers better be gone by the morning or I'll find you and shove a broomstick up your ass myself," She walked away from the door and started making her way back to the table. Her brown eyes hardened and Deidara took that as his cue to stand, "Now get the fuck out of my house, come back tomorrow around this same time, and we'll head out. If that piece of shit is still leaking out crazy amounts of rieatsu this little deal of ours is out the window and you turn your sorry ass around."

"Fine, fine," Deidara went to the door and then turned his head to say one last thing. "We all know you wouldn't shove a broomstick anywhere other than your pus-" The blonde swung the door open and rushed outside to avoid being knocked unconscious by a vase that was launched at his head. He already had a bloody nose because of her and he didn't need to add any more injuries to that list.

He was surprised to see Naruto sitting on the ground with his eyes closed. Was he meditating? Who the hell taught him how to meditate? Deidara crinkled his nose and looked around the area to make sure everything was okay and right with the universe. Usually when he was around Naruto there was always weird kind of heat licking at his skin, but now he just felt a gentle warmth. He was used to dealing with crazy rieatsu levels, and Naruto was just another one, but he could feel when the lid was open so to speak, and right now it was closed.

That boy figured out how to control his rieatsu in five minutes and Deidara had to fight back a smile, "Finally! Hanging around you was starting to get unbearable."

Naruto cracked an eyelid open and looked confusedly at Deidara, "What are you talking about, sensei?" Naruto didn't notice, but the moment he saw firsthand the effects he had on lower-level residents; he reacted. He didn't know how, but his body would react to situations and change accordingly. It was amazing really, "Did I fix my problem?"

"Yeah, you did," Deidara helped Naruto off of the ground. "I don't know how, but damn kid, you're a fast learner. See what happens when you listen to Deidara-sensei?"

Naruto had gotten no such advice from Deidara on how to suppress his rieatsu, but he shook it off easily, "Yeah, sure."

"Now come on, un. I have some more business to handle."

 **XxX**

(Seireitei – Second Division Barracks – With Shisui)

The death god ran a hand through his messy hair as he was walking through the halls of his division's living quarters. It had definitely been a long day, and Sui-feng had already left him to go find their captain. He hadn't even bothered going to the medical bay to get treated, other than his clothes being torn apart, and a few deep cuts on his skin; he was going to be fine. His mind was all over the place, and would probably make a terrible patient at the moment.

His mind was solely focused on the newcomer Naruto who managed to get away from two of the best covert operatives second division had to offer. It was unnerving really. Even though he literally sent Naruto running away with a kido induced hole and who knows what other injuries; he still _escaped_ a high ranking officer with some kind of ease. Naruto had only been in Soul Society for months, based on the reports, and he was already extremely skilled in how to use his reiryoku. How was that even possible?

Hopefully he could make a trip to the twelfth division when he woke up and drum up some information, maybe find the person who guided his soul over to Rukongai. Shisui wouldn't be able to think straight until he could figure out the mystery behind Naruto. For now he would get some sleep so he wouldn't be a zombie when he chose to finally get back to work.

When he approached his assigned room, he slid the door open and let out a quiet sigh of relief upon seeing his bed. The moon shined through the window and it dimly lit the room, as he slid out of his sandals, and started to take off his ruined shihakushō. Luckily he had closet full of them so he wasn't that mad at Naruto for ruining his uniform. As he stripped down his boxers, he heard a whistle come from behind him.

Not even batting an eyelid, Shisui turned his head to see a woman emerge from the shadows of his room, "Taichou." He stated more so than greeted, and continued to find some clothes to sleep in. Her yellow eyes crinkled and he could tell she was smiling. As he slipped into a t-shirt, he sat down on top of his bed and folded his arms over each other, "What?"

"Sui-feng told me what happened, Shisui-kun," The brown-skinned woman walked through the room and sat down next to the boy with a smile. "It sounds like our new friend gave you two the run around," she rubbed at one of the many cuts from Naruto on his face and used the back of her hand to caress them soothingly. "Don't beat yourself up about it though, you've still came a long way since you first joined. I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you, Yoruichi-taichou," He fell back into his bed and nearly smiled at the comfort of his skin touching the soft sheets, but held it in so he could keep the conversation between him and his captain somewhat serious. As he looked at the roof, he frowned, "but I don't like failing missions." At the end of the day, whether Yoruichi was proud or not; Naruto got away, and was still on the loose. He wouldn't be able to think straight until something was done about the boy, since he was endangering Rukongai with his massive rieatsu.

"You didn't fail, at least in my eyes," Yoruichi placed her hand on Shisui's stomach and laughed when he twitched at her cold fingers. "Because of you, we know how to better handle him when the time comes. The mission isn't over, hopefully we can bring him in and convince him to be apart of the second division after he finishes the academy." The woman stood up and started to make her way toward the door. She turned around with a sly grin, "Maybe he can even join our division, there's going to be an opening soon anyway."

Shisui sat up and couldn't help but spare the confused glance at Yoruichi, "What opening?"

"You've been progressing so well these last few years, and I know how strong your shikai is," Yoruichi started trailing off, trying to lead Shisui to where she was hinting at, and he said nothing. The woman rolled her eyes at the Uchiha's stoicism and placed a hand on her hip, "The tenth division is open to the prospect of a new lieutenant and I was thinking of nominating you. You're more than qualified."

"Is that what you came by to tell me?" Shisui asked as stared at Yoruichi with a hint of disbelief. He knew he was strong, but he didn't think he was ready to take on the rank of lieutenant. It would be a long while before he was ready for that position, "I was thinking of staying under your tutelage for a little while longer." By a little while longer he meant something close to a decade, but time was relative in Seireitei.

"That's cute," The captain poked fun and he dropped a bead of sweat, which made her chuckle for a second. "I'll let you ponder on that, but I have another assignment for you as well. I'm supposed to be meeting with Ginrei tomorrow and I want you to come with me, he wants to talk about who's been stealing our fish from our garden. I went to visit Byakuya-kun and I saw the fish from my pond in his and vice versa, so someone is throwing the wool over our eyes."

"I'll be ready whenever you are," Shisui said as he crawled back into his bed and got ready to go to sleep. It sounded like he had a long day ahead of him. "I'll also put some thought into applying for that lieutenant position."

"Very good, Shisui," Yoruichi was waving good bye, "Sleep tight, don't let the Naruto-kun's bite." She disappeared before the boy could say something in return, and he was left looking at his wide open door. Yoruichi hadn't even had the decency to close it.

The universal struggle of closing the room door after you already got in the bed was evident with Uchiha Shisui and he gnashed his teeth together at the thought of getting up.

With one quick shunpo movement, he was at the door and back in his bed before he could blink.

Much better.

 **XxX**

 **Chill chapter this time around while I setup for Naruto and Deidara to break into the Kuchiki compound. I'll keep introducing dead Naruto characters as time goes on, just trying stray away from the obvious Konoha ones, or someone who would flat out spark Naruto's memories. Just subtle people he met in passing.**

 **Next chapter, I'm not giving the name damn it lol, but just know shit will go down, because you can't just break into a rich guy's compound and escape scot free. At least not in a story where I we laugh at Naruto's misfortune.**


	4. Meet The Kuchiki's

**Chapter Four: Meet The Kuchiki's**

Naruto sat on top of a Rukongai shop while Deidara was harassing a business owner for discrediting the quality of his fish. He was yelling something about 'art' and the 'finer things, un.' Since he had learned to properly suppress his rieatsu, he could be among common souls and not utterly crush them under the intensity of his spiritual pressure. Something clicked in his mind after seeing Tayuya suffer.

He learned after they left Tayuya's wooden cabin that 'handling business' to Deidara meant nothing more than yelling at people who owed him favors. They weren't even favors for things he had done for people, it was more so things Biwako had done that she never brought up again. She was a generous woman at the end of the day, something like a robin-hood figure in the farther districts who took from noble men and gave it back to the poorer children. Whether it be a place to stay, jewelry to pawn and get food, or a motherly figure in Deidara's case; she was well loved, and would always be well protected.

Even Naruto was now under her ever growing tree of generosity, since she had healed him and stitched him back together. For that alone, he would forever be grateful, and probably why he had no problem stealing a simple wedding ring back from an old lover of hers. Normally it would have felt wrong, but for something so insignificant; he doubted karma would punish him too badly. As he continued to watch Deidara try and negotiate an ungodly price for the koi fish he had captured, Naruto grinned when he saw the boy click his tongue and leave the merchant's shop.

"Damn bastard," Deidara grumbled as he held his bucket and swung it back and forth while approaching the building Naruto was sitting on top of. "How the hell did you get up there, kouhai?"

"I stuck to it with my chakra."

"What the hell is chakra?"

Hm. Now that Naruto thought of it, what the hell was chakra? Everything he heard about compromised of reiryoku, rieatsu, and reishi. All those r words and no mention of chakra. It was obviously important to his life, "Um, chakra is the energy inside of you-"

"Like reiryoku…" Deidara corrected and didn't really care for Naruto's explanation of whatever chakra was. Reiryoku the spiritual energy inside of you, rieatsu was your spiritual pressure, and reishi was what made up soul society. "Look, we can talk about reiryoku another time, kouhai, right now we need to start making our way back to Tayuya-chan's cabin, un." He smirked as Naruto jumped down and landed perfectly and they started walking out of the small strip of shops.

They were walking wordlessly back to where they had came. They spent a majority of the day light trying to procure funds and useful items from people Biwako helped. Deidara had acquired some money to pay off Tayuya for her services, some tools he didn't mention what they were, and pair of regular sandals that he promised to give Naruto if he didn't get caught while stealing Biwako's ring back.

It was a nice incentive, but now Naruto's mind was else where. He wanted to know what chakra was. The boy at least remembered there were two halves, one being physical, and the other being spiritual. It was probably why he had such an easy grasp on reiryoku, since it once existed while he lived, but only half of his energy. Despite everything being spiritual, there still had to be a physical side in order for those spells Shisui used to take form, so maybe everything was one in the same just with a different name in the after life.

Naruto was no genius, but he was a wise man before he died, and he at least knew that energy didn't die, even if the host body did. All that energy from said host had to go somewhere after a person died. Either it was returned to the world of the living, or it traveled to Soul Society and cycled back after the soul died. That was the most logical point of view, and it didn't explain why he still had fragments of his memories, but it at least explained why he could still use energy.

Chakra and reiryoku were essentially the same thing and could be manipulated the same way. How he could link these things to his memories was another thing, and it led him to even deeper thought, so much so that he couldn't hear Deidara calling his name. The fisherman stopped abruptly and Naruto absent mindedly kept walking, but Deidara grabbed him by the back of his shirt.

"Hey, are you listening?" A confused look told him his answer. No. He rolled his eyes and flicked Naruto on the forehead, "Listen up, I want you to go and keep Tayuya company until I arrive. Don't kill her with your rieatsu." That was all he said before he walked off in another direction. What he was about to go do was unknown to Naruto, but he couldn't argue with his 'sensei.'

XxX

(Tayuya's Cabin)

The red-head swung her door open and had to hide her distaste for Naruto. Instead of the preferred disgusted scowl, she replaced it with a more polite glare that more or less still let the boy know she didn't like him. She clicked her tongue and stepped to the side, "Where the hell is Deidara, I thought he was apart of this stupid shit."

"Um, I don't know," Naruto responded honestly and went to sit down around the wooden table in the center of the room. "He said he had to handle some more business."

"Asshole," Tayuya shut the door and now stared at Naruto. After asking him where Deidara was, she didn't really feel the need to talk to him any longer. What could the two of them really talk about it? She already didn't like him after he nearly crushed her with his rieatsu, and she hated the way he looked. Stupid blonde, "So.."

Naruto looked at with an arched brow, and something of a smile on her face, "You're shy all of sudden?" He stroked his chin and looked her over. "I guess it makes sense, yesterday you were hiding behind the door when in the presence of someone as awesome as me." He outstretched his arms and let out a yawn. He had been running around Rukongai all day.

"You're not fucking awesome, you're a dweeb," Tayuya had no choice but to sit down at the table with Naruto. She didn't trust him enough to leave him alone, "The sooner Deidara gets here the better, I hate you more than you can imagine, cunt-lips." Naruto furrowed his brow at her name for him and opened his mouth to retort, but she was quicker, "Shut the fuck up, we're sitting here in silence until Deidara gets here."

"Why, do you have a crush on him or something? Is that the only boy you can talk to?" He saw how flustered she got and grinned. So she had a little thing for his sensei, "Oh, that's so cute! You like Deidara-sensei!"

"No, I hate both of you and your stupid blonde hair and ugly faces. You think I'm attracted to Rukongai rats like you? You two need haircuts-"

Naruto pulled at his hair and quietly nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I could use a decent haircut." Tayuya suddenly sprung up with a devilish grin on her face, "What?"

She ran into another room and came out with a pair of scissors and got dangerously close to Naruto's head. He rolled out of the way and sprang to a stand, "You're not a trained barber, 'ttebayo!" He had to block strikes from close cutting scissors and suddenly tripped her up. She fell to the ground and he kneeled down to look at her with a grin, "You're not laying a finger on-" A lot of sentences were being cut off, as well as a tuft of his hair, and his eyes were as wide as saucer plates when he saw it lazily falling onto her stomach. He growled and sat down in front of her, "Fine, cut it."

"Thank you cunt-lips, you look terrible," She instantly got to cutting away and reshaping his hair while he winced every time she got close to his ear or his eye with the blades of the scissors. Tayuya was enjoying herself though, "Stay still idiot!" He was moving around while she cut away at his dirtied hair that was once reaching his shoulder, but was aiming for more of a buzz cut.

As she cut away, he looked at his own reflection through Tayuya's brown eyes, which she mistook as something else and actually started blushing. She never had someone look that deeply in her eyes before and it made her fall back from cutting his hair, "Why'd you stop?" Naruto didn't even notice her face as he was feeling his head. She cut it pretty short, it wasn't exactly a buzz cut, and he ruffled his hand through it to make it somewhat spiky. "You actually did a pretty good job, Tayuya-chan."

'Tayuya-chan?' Naruto didn't know the effect he was having and she dropped the scissors to the ground. The cutesy, innocent boy act seemed to actually be working on her. It worked for Deidara too, little did he know, and she rolled her eyes, "Shut the fuck up, cunt-lips," Tayuya got off of the ground to find something to sweep up his hair off her floor. She didn't plan on staying in the room long enough for Naruto to see her blush and he continued to touch at his hair.

"Hey kids, I'm home," Deidara walked in with a few bags and set a few of them down at Naruto's feet. He looked around, "Where's that cunt Tayuya?" He asked with a smirk on his face, until she walked out of her room with a broom and smacked him in the face. Not with the bristles but the wooden handle, and nearly knocked a few teeth out. "Oh, there she is," He didn't seem to mind the pain, recovering quickly, and reaching into one of the bags to throw an outfit at her.

It was her work uniform, "How the hell did you get this?" She threw it to the side as she swept up Naruto's hair off of the ground.

"Don't worry about that, un," Deidara looked at Naruto's freshly cut hair and grinned. "You let this bitch cut your hair, how cute."

"She didn't do a bad job," Naruto complimented and looked inside the bag. It had an identical plain looking uniform as the one Tayuya had, expect more fitting to his size. "When the hell did you take my measurements?"

"While you were sleep," Deidara waved off casually, "Get dressed, un, we're about to head out. The sooner we get there, the faster we can leave."

"Fine," both Naruto and Tayuya responded.

Naruto picked up his bag and walked into the other room, but Tayuya grabbed him by his collar and threw him back to where he had just came from, "This is my room, asshole, and only mine. Stay out here and change with your sensei." She disappeared into the depths of the cabin without Naruto. "Cunt-lips doesn't even know what he's doing."

XxX

(Kuchiki Compound)

Shisui was running aimlessly behind Yoruichi, who seemed to have no destination. She bounced throughout the hallways like a kitten trying to pounce on something, and she had taken off so fast; he didn't even know why she was running. He looked over his shoulder to see a disgruntled teenager chasing the both of them and silently said 'oh' to himself. When he looked ahead, Yoruichi had vanished from sight, and now he had to do the same so her game could continue.

The boy running after them cursed under his breath and utilized shunpo as well to keep pace with the captain of the second division. She had stolen his hair tie and now he looked like a mess trying to keep up with one the fastest people Soul Society had ever produced, "Come back here!"

Shisui had to duck and dodge multiple workers who were mulling about the manor doing their job, and an angry teenager managed to knock one of the women walking through with fresh sheets to the ground in his attempt to capture Yoruichi. While he was having fun, he still had a heart, and couldn't let the poor woman be knocked to the ground. The boy continued to chase Yoruichi and Shisui turned around to help her up.

She was blonde, with her hair tied into a fishtail braid, and fierce brown eyes. They softened as she grabbed onto Shisui and got off of the ground. The woman was at least grateful for that, "Thank you…" She left room for him to introduce himself.

"Shisui, Uchiha Shisui," He bowed respectfully to her and was about to make his leave, but she didn't let of his arm, so he was stuck in place. "Is there something I'm missing here?"

"Not even going to stick around to let me introduce my self huh, Shisui?" She smirked as he offered a slight smile in return. "I know you're a busy man, but since you pulled me off my ass, I just want you to know, that Nii Yugito is thankful for you doing that." Yugito let go of his arm and moved to pick up the sheets off the ground. "Byakuya should know better than to run through the compound."

"He's just a kid," Shisui said as he disappeared from Yugito's sight, there was nothing more for them to talk about from that point on. She stared at the spot he was once standing in and rolled her eyes. Weren't shinigami supposed to be the good guys? It seems like he was dedicated to his job at the time, whatever it may have been, so she'll give him a pass for not being a gentleman.

Shisui on the other hand had to follow a path of destruction which ultimately led to an open area that the whole tirade started in, which was Byakuya Kuchiki's personal training ground, and he found his captain standing on top of the roof, dangling his hair tie, "I thought we came here on business." He said as he walked into the area with a slight frown on his face. "You haven't even tried looking for Ginrei-san since we've arrived here."

"Hm?" Yoruichi turned to look at her subordinate and waved his concerns off, "You should have stayed and talked to that pretty servant girl, she might do you some good in the future, if you know what I mean, Shisui-kun." Shisui's stoic expression didn't let up, now she had him and Byakuya staring at her. Not even a blush or a flustered expression from either of them. They were getting numb to her antics, "Well, Byakuya-kun? Still not fast enough to catch m-" She looked at her hand and saw the red hair tie was in Shisui's grasp.

Shisui was grinning now, "Stop being a bully and get down from there, Yoruichi-taichou." He handed Byakuya his hair-tie and ruffled his hair a bit before jumping away from the angry teenage boy. "Hey! I helped you out," Shisui said with a laugh and finally got the flustered expression out of him that Yoruichi was aiming for.

"When I become head of the Kuchiki-clan, the two of you will be banned here forever!" Yoruichi was always here for some reason, and she always brought Shisui. They always interrupted his training and he was getting sick and tired of it. "Now leave me alone, I don't want to see your faces here any time soon!"

"Aw, Byakuya-kun, that's no way to treat a guest," Yoruichi smiled playfully, watching as he tried to tie his hair up once again. With a quick use of shunpo, she removed it from his hand once more and took to the rooftops to get away. "You love me, just admit it!"

The whole chase was refreshed, and now all three of them were running through the Kuchiki compound once more.

XxX

(Seireitei – Hours Later – With Deidara, Naruto, and Tayuya)

After hours of traveling, they were finally in Seireitei. Tayuya had gotten them past the gate without the hitch, and thanks to Naruto somehow teaching Deidara how to use henge; they had disguises that looked passable. Tayuya gave them accurate descriptions of some of the other workers she usually traveled to the capital with, and also managed to force Deidara to pay them for the day off too in exchange for using their face.

Naruto's disguise was a girl with sizable bust that could barely be contained by the sleeveless blouse he wore under his black kimono. He had long white hair and was still allowed to keep his blue eyes, "I don't see how women do this."

"Well you did go a little overboard, cunt-lips, her tits aren't that huge," Tayuya face palmed as they walked through the streets of Seireitei on their way to the Kuchiki mansion. "You're lucky that's one of the things no one is going to complain about. The Kuchiki aren't the type to look a gift horse in the mouth." She turned to face Deidara with a smile. Seeing him disguised as one of his female coworkers made her warm on the inside. He was also equipped with some sizable assets, wearing the same uniform as Naruto.

"I hate this, un," Deidara said through his female disguise. He seemed to pick up the henge thing pretty easily, and it was easy to maintain. If Deidara had walked up to the huge gate guard looking like himself, they probably would have been punted all the way back to the 80th district with ease. Using the face of a female the frequently passed through was simple enough, and apparently Seireitei had no defense for something as simple Naruto's henge technique.

Rules and contingencies were only made after they discovered a fault, and Naruto was the first to use his transformation to get through the gates. It was brilliant, even if he didn't realize it. The only worry might have been that someone who knew them well enough could sniff out their rieatsu, but Naruto had gotten the hang of suppressing his, and he himself wasn't that imposing of a figure. They would largely go unnoticed.

Damn, his kouhai was almost better equipped for this life than he ever was, but there were still things he could teach him. "Let's just hustle up and get there, I hate being in Seireitei, with the Gotei breathing down my neck, un." The sooner he was in his actual house the better. "I hate those bastards."

"What's the gotei, I hear you talk about them all the time," Naruto asked with a raised brow.

"Thirteen squads of assholes that get together and kill evil spirits to put it quite simply, they travel between here and the world of the living and regulate the balance of souls," Deidara said as he looked over his shoulder just in case one of them were behind him. No one was there, "We should be getting close to the mansion soon."

"There's a way get back to the world of the living?" This of course, piqued Naruto's interest.

"Yeah, but you don't have time to worry about that right now, asshole, look alive," Tayuya grabbed him by the ear and turned him forward as they were approaching the gates of the Kuchiki's mansion. She was starting to get kind of nervous, putting a lot on the line just to help Biwako by letting these assholes into Seireitei. Not only could she lose her job, but she could get in trouble for letting dwellers into the capital. The only reason it went so smoothly was because of Naruto, "What are your names, ladies?"

"Kairi."

She looked to Naruto.

"Yuki."

Tayuya clapped her hands, "Okay, Kairi, what's your job?" She asked with a smile.

"I'm supposed to maintain all of the gardens, un."

She pointed to Naruto.

"My job is to clean up after some kid named Byakuya."

Tayuya nodded and turned to the gate, but suddenly jumped back and pointed at both of them with a shaking hand, "And if you see Ginrei Kuchiki, what do you do?"

"Run," both of them said simultaneously and rolled their eyes. Running from a old man was beneath both of them, but apparently it was an order from Tayuya.

"Okay, good, we can go in now," She punched in a code and the gates slowly started to open. Tayuya pulled them close and locked arms with them, speaking lowly, "The real Kairi and Yuki will be here to sub out with you in the morning, from there you two get the hell out whether you got the ring or not, understood?"

"Yes, Tayuya-chan."

Tayuya released them both and greeted the group of women who were waiting at the front of the compound, "Hey guys," She said as she walked past. "You can leave now; we've got things from here."

They bowed respectfully as they scurried away, and luckily enough for Deidara and Naruto; didn't say a word to them. The two quietly fist bumped each other as they entered the halls of the compound. Tayuya left them to their own devices, trusting them not fuck up so soon and actually do the jobs they were supposed to before they branched off. Naruto looked at Deidara, since he had been here before, "What now?"

"Do your job, idiot," Deidara flicked Naruto on his forehead and the boy in female's disguise winced. He leaned in close and whispered, "Create one of those clones, knock out a male worker and scout the compound. If you find the ring, find me, and we'll go from there. The plan is for us," He gestured to their female disguises, "to not do a damn thing. Let your clones do the dirty work disguised as someone else. If they get caught, the blame isn't on us. Go find the asshole heir to the throne and clean up his shit."

As if on cue, a towel was thrown right in Naruto's face and the sweat covered cloth nearly stuck to his head. He pulled it off to see said 'asshole heir to the throne' standing right before him. He would let the boy dictate the interaction since Tayuya wasn't polite enough to tell him how this Yuki character acted.

"I need some fresh clothes in my room, Yuki-chan," Byakuya said to her as he walked off to do something else. Naruto, or should we say, Yuki let out a sigh of relief once he was out of earshot.

Deidara patted him on the shoulder, "Good luck, don't get caught." With that, he left Naruto alone and the boy scratched his head.

"Now I have to find out where the laundry room is, and his bedroom, great," Naruto went in another direction of Deidara to try and figure out the layout of the compound. For some reason none of the other workers stopped to talk to 'Yuki' which was weird, but it was working out better in his favor. He at least managed to find the laundry room by following some workers around and slipped in there silently.

He shut the door silently and now had to figure out which clothes belonged to Byakuya, since the entire clan's dirty clothing filtered through this room. Naruto shrugged, since he had to do his job, but didn't have to do it well. If he didn't bring the boy the right clothes, it would be a reason to get out of his face and do something else until he brought the right thing back.

As he sorted through the clothes trying to find something that seemed like it fit the boy, he heard footsteps getting closer to the door. After meeting Shisui, Biwako, and Tayuya; he knew the difference in people's rieatsu. The person approaching wasn't holding back a majority of it, they just didn't have a lot to throw around like he did, so they were probably closer to a commoner if anything.

Trained killers had a feeling about them; the person approaching wasn't a killer. Yuki slid away from the carts full of clothes and stuck to the other side of the door. As it slid open, she grabbed said person by their collar and forcefully dragged them in and shut the door with her foot. With a quick maneuver, Yuki dropped the man to the ground and knocked him out. There a slight giggle after how easy it was, but she left it at that.

She had to work to fast, "Okay," the disguised woman looked down at the unconscious worker. He had tied up black hair and a slim build. With a disgusted look on her face, she stripped him out of his clothes and created a clone that instantly henged to look like the unconscious man. "I'll handle this, you get out of here." Yuki lifted the man off of the ground and dumped him into a cart of dirty clothes.

"You didn't even bother to get the teme's name?" The clone asked as he waited for Yuki to throw the man into the laundry cart full of clothes to open the door.

"Nope, try to stay unseen. Scout out the whole compound and find where they're keeping the ring," Yuki tucked some white hair behind her ear and grabbed a pile of clean clothes, hugging against her huge chest. "I'm about to go give this asshole some clean underwear, if you find out where the ring is, create another clone and pop yourself."

The clone nodded and they both went their separate ways. Now she had to find out where the hell Byakuya's bedroom was at.

XxX

(Kuchiki Mansion)

Deidara, or Kairi was mumbling curses to herself with some gardening equipment in tow. She stomped down the steps into the garden but instantly froze when he saw two people wearing white haori, and the very same shinigami that had run he and Naruto out of the 62nd with their tails tucked between their legs. Her eyes widened and spun on her heel, "Oops, forgot my hoe."

"No, join us," an elderly man called out from the garden that was full of ponds and beautiful flowers that only the Kuchiki had access to. The man that Tayuya told her to run from if they crossed paths was currently asking for her presence. The gray haired man wore the same stoic expression that was common with all the other Kuchiki's as she approached the trio of shinigami. "I was just telling Shisui-kun about the roses you planted, you did an excellent job."

"Thank you," She said as she bowed in the presence of Ginrei Kuchiki. Kairi didn't notice the slightly dissatisfied expression on the noble's face due to no honorifics, but he let it slide for now. "But I really need to get some more equipment so I can keep doing my job so well." She smiled eerily and Ginrei nodded. Kairi took this as her chance to leave, but Ginrei cleared his throat to speak again.

"If you don't mind, I need you to show Yoruichi-sama to the kitchen to bring us some fresh tea," Ginrei said as Yoruichi started standing up and a nervous bead of sweat dripped down Kairi's face. "Normally I would have someone else do it, but Yoruichi insists on getting it her self."

"I'm not really a fan of servants bending to my every whim," She turned to look at Kairi and smiled softly. "No offense." Kairi shrugged and turned around to head up the stairs that led back to the halls of the compound, and Yoruichi followed after her. Kairi tried to stay silent, but Yoruichi was a talkative woman, "Have you ever thought of sticking it to the old man? I mean someone already got us pretty good with the fish thing."

Kairi giggled, because little did Yoruichi know; she was the reason she was here. The girl shook her head, "He can be an asshole, but he pays well." Since Deidara had broken into the Kuchiki compound before, as Kairi he knew where the kitchen was. It didn't take long to get to the bustling kitchen, as she stood to the side to let Yoruichi through. She waved goodbye to Yoruichi and walked off.

Once she was out of her distance, Yoruichi stuck her head out of the kitchen with narrowed eyes. Something smelled fishy.

XxX

Yuki managed to find Byakuya's room after an entire hour of searching. How the hell could anyone afford a mansion as huge as this one? Apparently it paid to be a noble. Using her foot, the door slid open and Yuki gulped quietly when there was a blonde making up Byakuya's bed as she entered. The woman turned around to see who was entering and offered a smile, "Hi." Yuki said plainly as she walked into the room, "Where should I put these?"

Yugito pointed to the walk-in closet on the other side of the bed. Yuki shuffled quickly through the room and stepped into the closet, starting to fold the random clothes she had brought for Byakuya. 'Please don't talk to me, please don't talk to me, please don—' Yuki could literally hear Yugito part her lips after how deathly silent it was prior.

"Have you got your check yet, I feel like old man Ginrei is holding out on us," She complained as she tucked the sheets. Yugito had been at work all day and there had been no mention of any sort of pay for her labor, "I'll march out of here first thing in the morning if I don't get paid." The blonde moved to the other side of the bed, bending over as she adjusted the sheets, and unknowingly had her ass swinging a pervert's face.

'Damn she's hot,' the inner Naruto thought, but Yuki couldn't have her tongue hanging out at the first sight of a pretty woman. She shook her head, "No, I've been here for an hour and they haven't said anything about it." Technically she wasn't lying. Yuki continued folding clothes with a smile, once Yugito turned to face her with a frown. "What is it?"

"They've been acting strange around here lately, haven't you noticed?" Yugito was flat out staring at Yuki and she was starting to feel uncomfortable. To make matters worse, she remembered her from Naruto's past life. They were in some apocalyptic situation together and she helped him through it. For a moment, Yuki had wide eyes that Yugito barely noticed since it passed so quickly. "I'm going to get to the bottom of—" Yugito turned around and bowed when the door slid open, revealing Byakuya.

The teenager walked in and sat on his bed, laying down on the comfortable mattress and Yugito flicked him on the head, "Hey, what was that for?"

"I'm not done, kiddo," Yugito pushed him off of the bed and gestured toward a folded up cover. The irritated boy grabbed it and tossed it in her direction. She caught it swiftly and started making up the bed for her young master, "I take it your training went well today."

"Yes, Yugito-san," He rolled his eyes, jumping in his bed when she was done making up the bed. They had the same conversation every day, "You know it went well, I don't know why you ask."

"Because it's my job to make sure my little personal Kuchiki is doing well," She pinched Byakuya's cheek much to his dismay and got an irritated groan in response. The woman stood up and folded her arms over each other with a smile.

"You brought fresh clothes, right, Yuki-chan?" Byakuya called out from his bed and the white-haired girl looked up with a small smile and a nod. "Well, don't take all day, bring me some clean sleepwear."

"As you wish, Kuchiki-sama," Yuki was feeling damn good about her spy skills. She hadn't set off any kind of alarms and was keeping the ruse as a servant up quite well. The woman brought a pair of pajamas to the Kuchiki boy with a smile. She tried to ignore that fact that Yugito had just eyed her from head to toe. She didn't know what to make of it either, "Is there anything else you need me to do?"

A small beeping noise sounded off on Yugito's hip and she pulled out a small pager with a notification, "Byakuya, stay in your room, there's something going on."

A surprise jolt to her system made Yuki perk up all of sudden. 'Great,' a memory from the clone he created came back to him. It located the ring, not too far from where he was right now in Ginrei's master bedroom. How simple. It had slipped her mind that Yugito had mentioned something going on, in too much of a good mood to notice. When she felt Yugito staring at her, she smiled awkwardly, "What?"

"Forget your pager? Let's go, there's an emergency," Yugito grabbed Yuki by the arm and dragged her out the room. The white-haired girls eye's widened when she saw men clad in purple dashing through the halls. "There's been a breach in security."

XxX

Tayuya looked at her hip and cursed, "A fucking security breach? Where?" She looked at one of her coworkers for the answer.

"They found Shiro-kun unconscious in the laundry room, there might be an intruder," the fellow Kuchiki clan servant informed her and shuffled off in the opposite direction. His job definitely had nothing to do with dealing intruders.

The red-head was about to explode on the inside, 'Those idiots got caught already! I fucking knew I shouldn't have did this—' Her eyes were wide in disbelief when she saw the very person she thought was in a bind running past her. She grabbed 'Kairi' by the arm and dropped her to the floor. "What the fuck is going on?"

"I don't know, one minute I'm cleaning out the ponds and next I hear a scream, un," Deidara's verbal tic couldn't be hidden and Tayuya pinched the bridge of her nose. Kairi was pulled off of the ground and allowed to leave, "I'll make sure Yuki's alright, we might be fine."

"You better hope so," Tayuya grumbled and walked off.

'You better not have gotten caught kouhai, this is your first job, un.'

XxX

The clone was currently using 'Shiro' as a disguise and he had to say he was enjoying himself. He learned a lot about the Kuchiki clan during his short time snooping around. They were in charge of compiling and protecting the history of Soul Society, and from what he could see from the multiple generations of Kuchiki's roaming the compound; they were historically assholes. He had quietly slid into the master bedroom occupied by Ginrei in his attempt to find the ring, and was successful.

He took a moment to examine the ring. The diamond was huge, and he could see why his adoptive grandmother wanted this one in particular back. He created a clone of himself and then handed the ring off to him, "Make sure this gets to boss." The original clone dispelled and left this particular clone alone.

The intruder stared at the ring and smiled, tucking it on his person in a safe place. Now normally he would have made himself scarce after completing his objective, but something caught his interest. Ginrei Kuchiki kept everything from his kenseikan and their notorious white scarves in closet, as well as captain's haori. The Naruto clone stared at it with shimmering eyes, "Oh yeah, that's badass." He took one down from one of the hangers and put the haori on, and then followed up with one the scarves.

Hell, he was a full blown Kuchiki now. There was a mirror at the other end of the expansive closet and he went to look himself over, "Damn handsome, if I must say." The Naruto clone struck a few poses and finally crouched down in the mirror for his final pose, and placed his hand against the ground. Wait. The floor felt hollow right where he had his hand at, and he knocked on the ground. Sounded hollow too.

Naruto felt around the spot and ended up accidently clicking something. He had to jump away as the spot on the floor began to slide open, and underneath was set of stairs that led underground. Once again, he normally would have made himself scarce, but curiosity was a hell of a feeling. The clone under the guise of 'Shiro' looked around before spawning a few more clones into existence, "Stand watch up here, I'm going down there."

"What about the ring?"

"Fine, you big baby," He pulled out the ring and handed it to one of the clones. "One of you go find boss right now and make sure that gets to him. If someone sees you, either put it in a hiding spot he can go to later, or .. well there is no other option. I know he'd want me to do this because I am him and he is I or.. me, you know what I mean."

It was time to see what kind of skeletons the Kuchiki literally had hiding in their closet.

XxX

Thor94 my man, you posted a review right in time. Seiretei is smart and strong, but they're not ready for a good ole' henge. The most powerful jutsu behind the substitution in the Naruto series.

Drop a line if you have any idea what I should do for Shisui's shikai. Ok, bye.

PS: fan fiction loves to fuck up my format


	5. Skeletons

**Chapter Five: Skeletons**

Kairi/Deidara ran through the halls and suddenly tripped. She was dragged through an open doorway and looked up to see the grinning face of a Kuchiki member he didn't know, "Excuse me, I don't think we're meant to serve you in _that_ way, douche bag." The disguised girl scrambled to a stand, but the noble shook his head and blocked her path to the door, and shut it so she couldn't leave. He pushed her onto the bed and a bead of sweat dripped down her face, "I will bite your dick off, un!"

"Shut up, sensei," Naruto, disguised as a Kuchiki bust out of laughing when he saw his partner visibly ease up. "What kind of sick thoughts do you have going through your head?" He asked with an arched brow, reaching inside of his robes to pull something out.

Kairi's eyes lit up as she snatched the ring from his hand and stashed it on her person, "Good job, kouhai!" He could get over the fact that he was that easy to subdue now that he knew it was his honorable student's work. "Turn back to your normal disguise so we can get the fuck out here, un."

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "Sorry, no can do." Kairi's jaw dropped and Naruto let his laugh transition to an uneasy smile. "I kind of found a hidden cellar full of information and I'm going through it right now. I'm just a clone." The disguised boy wasn't surprised when Kairi instantly tried to smack him, and he ducked under the hand and jumped away from the bed. "The real me is being dragged around by some lady named Yugito trying to get to the bottom of this. Go back to cleaning the garden or whatever, we'll leave when this settles down."

"Where the fuck is the guy you're replacing?" Deidara looked around the room with a confused expression on his henged female face.

"Eh, let's not worry about that, I need to go."

"You didn't kill him did you?"

"No baka!"

The clone disappeared in a poof of smoke and left 'Kairi' alone, sitting on a stranger's bed. She sprung up and left the room to continue on her path. Now that she had the ring, she just had to link up with the real Naruto and this would be the end of it. They would switch out with the real versions of Kairi and Yuki when the time came and they could return back to Rukongai.

God he hated coming to Seireitei.

 **XxX**

(Elsewhere – Kuchiki Mansion)

Naruto took cautious steps down the stairs and his jaw nearly dropped when the contents of the underground room were revealed. A library, the giant room under the Kuchiki compound was a library. He had figured out they were in charge of keeping and recording the history of Soul Society during his time snooping around, but he had no idea it was to this extent. The library was massive, bigger than any he had ever seen. It probably took up a good portion of the underground workings of the entire house, and he was only at the beginning of it.

There were hundreds of shelves full of books and binders full of information, and he didn't even know where to start looking. Hell, he didn't even know what he was looking for. There was no index, and it certainly wasn't like the movies where there was an old man who spent his life locked away in a library and would care to help him find what he needed. Well, there was, but that old man happened to be Ginrei Kuchiki and he doubted that man would be happy to help.

His blue eyes looked around for any kind of clue but drew up nothing. He wanted to know who _he_ was, and there was mention of a method of travel that could take him back to the world of the living; he would want to know about that too. Now the only problem was where he could find such information. The boy scratched his head in confusion and then sighed.

The entire point of coming to the Kuchiki mansion was to get the ring back, and mostly stay inconspicuous, but desperate times called for desperate measures. With a simple hand sign, ten more copies of himself came into existence under the guise of 'Shiro' and disappeared into the depths of the library. The original Naruto clone continued to walk through, his stolen haori swinging with his every step.

Naruto was perusing the collection trying to find something that sparked his interest, "Zanjutsu?" His eyes had been scanning the titles of certain binders or books written in Kanji, and suddenly he stopped. He pulled out one of the white binders and opened it. It reminded him of something, and as he quickly skimmed through the extensive history of zanjutsu. It was one of the four basic fighting styles for shinigami, and it reminded him of the different branches jutsu he used when he was alive; Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, and Taijutsu. Names of different techniques suddenly flew through his head that he remembered hearing.

He even recalled people making their own jutsu like- Naruto stuck one of his hands out and a swirling ball of yellow reiryoku came into existence in an instant, "Ra-sen-gan." He laughed as he said it, as another flood gate of memories opened up. He let the spinning ball of energy subside and closed the book on Zanjutsu, he doubted there would be any mention of his techniques in there, and he couldn't even use the information he found in there.

The blonde did however start to remember different jutsu he had seen in his day, as well as the few he called his own. His mind could even see the faces of people he associated with said jutsu, but he was still drawing blanks on their names. Even the names of certain techniques were fuzzy, but he was at least getting a start on something, and before he could continue a memory jolted his system.

Someone was coming.

The clones dispelled before they were seen and closed the secret entrance to the library to cover their tracks a bit, but that didn't do much since whoever was looking for them was searching everywhere for a possible intruder.

He returned to his henge of Shiro and went to find somewhere to hide in the massive library. The boy went to find another fellow clone as well, and was pleased to see one of them ducked off in a corner behind a shelf. He rolled across the ground and stared at the clone with wide eyes, "What's new?" He whispered.

"Senkaimon, that's the way back," The clone whispered back, "There's one in the big ass city, and there's a smaller, private one that some nobles have, and guess where we're at?"

"The stronghold where they make noble douche bags, so we can possibly go back today?"

"It's possible, 'ttebayo!"

The sounds of their fellow clone brethren popping themselves to warn them filled their ears, and they were reminded that they were currently being hunted. The Naruto clone disguised as Shiro gnashed his teeth together and contemplated fighting to distract whoever it was, but that would only complicate things. Both of the clones dispelled, since they had useful information, and technically got what he wanted in the ring. Right now, team Naruto and Deidara was winning, and he would keep it that way for at least a few more minutes.

Ginrei Kuchiki turned the corner with the ultimate scowl on his face, and looked down to see nothing but his clothes lying on the floor. He quietly growled and picked his articles of clothing off of the ground. Every time he was about to pounce on whoever had invaded his library, they disappeared, and now there was no trace other than his stolen haori. He balled it up into a fist and swiftly turned away to return where he came from.

Whoever was snooping around was going to be killed _tonight_.

 **XxX**

The entire compound was going crazy. The security team was dashing through the halls trying to pounce on possible intruders and follow up on clues they had gotten from Yuki. The disguised girl cracked a smile as the purple clad workers ran off in the opposite direction. Yugito let her go her own way, and now she was confusing the hell out of the whole staff. The only thing that remained was reuniting with her partner and switching out with the real girls so they can return the ring to Biwako.

Naruto had gotten his memories from his clones, which included information on the Senkaimon. The thought of finding the Kuchiki's Senkaimon popped in his mind, but with them on such high security; he would have to save it for another time. He at least hadn't exhausted the whole switching spots with Yuki, so he would return when there wasn't such a stir in the Kuchiki compound.

Under the disguise of Yuki, he walked down the hall to continue his search for Kairi. Maybe Yuki would find her actually doing her job amidst all this madness, but that was highly doubted. She was walking past a large garden right now, and it apparently wasn't far from the kitchen because the scent of freshly cooked food was filling her nose. With no more control left over her legs, she was heading in that direction.

"Yuki-chan, it's so good to see you!"

The white haired girl turned her head and a bead of sweat dripped down the side of her face when it was none other than the Captain of the second division: Yoruichi Shihōin. How the hell did she know her? _Why_ did _she_ have to know her? Tayuya had associated the white haori with trouble, and she should run immediately, but that option wasn't present right now.

Yoruichi threw her arms in the air and she ran down the hall, bringing Yuki into a bear hug that nearly made the poor disguised boy's spine crack. She lifted Yuki off of the ground and shook her happily, "Oh my, your chest got bigger!" Yoruichi set the girl down and poked her on her breast and she smiled. The captain placed her hands on her hips, "How have you been?"

"Um, I've been good," Yuki croaked out awkwardly and smiled back at the captain who was excited to see her. She slowly started to back away, "I actually have to get back to work, sorry! Maybe we can chat next time." Her path to the opposite side of the hall was blocked by another woman. She turned around to see a smiling Yugito.

"I knew I'd find you over here," She folded her arms over each other and took a step forward that made Yuki back into Yoruichi, and the brown skinned woman caught her. Yuki's eyes shifted around and the purple clad security started to fill the hallway behind Yugito. The blonde woman grinned and looked over her shoulder, "You know, at first I thought you were just being forgetful when I asked you about your check, because everyone knows you get it at the end of your shift, but then you forgot your pager, and you didn't know what to do during an emergency." Yugito took another step forward, looking down on Yuki, "So I figured I'd reintroduce myself, I am Nii Yugito: _Head Of Security_. I know you're not Yuki, so who are you?"

'FUCK 1000 TIMES FUCK FUCK FUCK,' Naruto was currently yelling at himself in his mind and had to stay cool on the outside. Yoruichi had tightened her grip, not planning on releasing her, and she was surrounded. Great, "I'm Yuki, I promise you." She smiled to try and assure the head of security, but she wasn't buying it.

"Subdue him," Yugito ordered with a flick of her hand and a few guards stepped forward to retrieve Yuki. Yoruichi pushed the girl forward with a smile and she fell right into their grasp. Damn that woman was strong. Since she had no intention of causing anymore ruckus until she found her partner, she went along with it, as they cuffed her and started walking down the hallway. Yugito's shoulders slumped and she let out a sigh of relief, "I'm glad that's over."

"It's not over."

"We found the intruder," Yugito shot a glance at Yoruichi who believed there was still something going on.

"She didn't come alone, let's go," Yoruichi gestured in the other direction and Yugito had no choice to follow.

Meanwhile Naruto was being led to who knows where with at least five of the purple ninjas on each of his sides. The disguised soul slightly twitched his hands to see how sturdy the cuffs were. He could totally break them. Apparently they weren't expecting any prisoners with superhuman strength, but the whole Deidara thing still remained an issue. He couldn't go anywhere without Deidara, and he doubted his partner would know where to find him.

If Tayuya would have told them about the damn pagers and paychecks he wouldn't be in this mess in the first place, and he could probably send a message to Deidara. Women made things so complicated. He could fight his way out of this since Yugito and Yoruichi ran off in the opposite direction, and that'd probably buy him at least another hour, but then the entire circle of running from purple ninja would restart, and he might still not find Deidara.

"YUKI, YOU'RE THE INTRUDER!?" The white haired girl's head turned and saw a tuft of reddish-brown hair running up the stairs from another one of the Kuchiki's massive gardens. "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU, UN!" Oops that slipped. Regardless, it was all the validation Yuki needed to know that she had found her partner.

One of the guards broke away and held his hand out, "Stay ba-" He dropped down and rolled down the stairs right past Kairi and she smiled. Yuki had a stream of blood dripping down her forehead after head butting the guard that hard, and she was now fighting off the purple ninja with ease with only her legs.

Kairi had to avoid bodies flying past her as she ran up the steps and entered the hallway, and only Yuki stood, still in handcuffs with unconscious guards all around her. With an excellent show of strength, she broke the cuffs and the metal dropped to the ground, "What part of inconspicuous do you not understand?" Kairi asked with a furrowed brow.

"They figured us out, sensei, cut the crap," Naruto spat out and flicked Deidara on his forehead. "I was never good with covert ops, I say we just bust out of here like real men." Naruto adjusted his uniform and the obnoxiously big breast from his henge bounced around, "Let's go."

Kairi's eye twitched and had no choice but to run after her partner and they were navigating through the halls at high speeds. How they were going to get out of a maximum security compound, she didn't know, but would be damned if she didn't try, "Can I drop this disguise then, god damn it, I hate being a girl!"

"We don't want them to know who we are though; we're not done sneaking around this Seireitei place."

"Yes we are, un," Deidara spat out in response as they turned a corner and continued their mad dash to an exit. "I am _not_ running around Seireitei with you, I'm going back home, kouhai."

"We're finding that damn Senkaimon, 'ttebayo!"

Ok, Naruto was dedicated to this.

"Senkaimon, huh? You don't think you're getting too big for your britches at all?" Deidara questioned with something of a grin.

"Nope."

That was the end of that conversation, because both of them came skidding to a halt when they saw Ginrei standing at the end of the hall with his hands behind his back walking towards them calmly. They switched directions and started running back the way they came, but he suddenly appeared right in front of them, and they began stumbling backward, "Where are you two going?" Yuki/Naruto shrugged and pointed in the direction they were trying to go. "No you're not, you're under arrest."

Naruto's jaw dropped when he saw Kairi's head suddenly roll across the floor and blood sprayed out of her neck and covered the ground. Ginrei shifted his eyes to Naruto and pointed his katana at the disguised boy, "I don't take intruders lightly." He planned to do the same to Naruto, but he was suddenly thrown off balance by an enormous spike in rieatsu that nearly made him buckle. He tried to hold his composure, but couldn't hide his widened eyes, watching in awe as Naruto's spiritual pressure began to crush anyone trying to enter the hallway trying to assist him, "Everyone stay back."

It was terrible, his rieatsu was laced with such strong malevolent energy and burning hot anger a bead of sweat rolled down the side of the old man's face. What kind of power was 'Yuki' hiding? Even as a captain, his rieatsu wasn't nearly as massive and oppressive as Naruto's was right now. He had to recognize this person, whoever they were, as an actual threat, and didn't plan on letting them leave alive. Someone this powerful would surely be a thorn in the Gotei 13's side.

The blonde currently disguised as Yuki couldn't believe what he just saw, "How could you be so heartless you old bastard!?" Naruto nearly had tears swelling in his blue eyes. There was zero need to kill his partner in cold blood like that. There was no reason for _any_ blood to be shed on both sides. A simple arrest was all that was necessary, but obviously Ginrei Kuchiki was a cold man.

"Surely you understand that when I find an intruder in my home, I would act that way, and I have every right to," Ginrei said like any reasonable homeowner would. "I never thought that a thief would want me to obey any kind of moral code, when you're here to take away from _me_. I'm protecting my family." The gray-haired man jumped forward, but Naruto stuck his hand out and sent him tumbling down the hall with a quick blast of wind.

The henge that disguised him as Yuki was flickering in and out of existence, since he was far too mad to actually keep it up. Deidara being dead made the plan fall through too, so there was no reason for him to hide his identity. His blue eyes hardened when he saw Ginrei getting back up off of the ground, and he held his hand out to form a bigger than average Rasengan, "I know what I'm doing is wrong, I can admit that, but I didn't plan on hurting _anybody_. I was going to slip right out of here, until now. Now I'm doing what the hell I want." The giant purple ball of reiryoku started to gather wind around it, and began to take the shape of a giant fuuma shuriken.

Since Ginrei Kuchiki wanted to be an asshole, he would be an asshole right back.

Faster than any shunpo Ginrei could muster, a constantly rotating giant shuriken made from reiryoku and wind tore through everything in its path; debris flying everywhere, and smashed right into him and all of his guards. The portion of the house he and Naruto were occupying was completely destroyed, and Naruto turned his back on it; not even truly believing what he had just done out of a sudden spark of rage. It wasn't kind of any anger he had ever felt, it was almost demonic. It scared him, because he could still feel the dark energy running through his body.

He was still mad.

He looked at the dismembered body of Deidara, who was for some reason still in the form of Kairi. Naruto scooped up the headless 'girl' and ran off. They wouldn't be catching up to him for a while, since he had just completely destroyed an entire wing of the Kuchiki home after a blind fit of rage. Once he came down from this angry 'high' he would probably feel terrible for endangering all the other innocent people in the compound.

Right now, he was still burning with all kind of emotions as he ran through the now empty halls of the compound. Everyone was either scared or attracted to the blast and weren't going to be crossing paths with him. Naruto was following the sight of the moon peeking in through the halls from one of the gardens. His best bet was just going outside and jumping across the rooftops.

This plan had gone to shit and he had no use trying to salvage it. He ran outside, but before he could leap off of the ground; someone was blocking his way. Naruto furrowed his brow when he saw Ginrei standing on the roof with a deep across his torso, blood all over his expensive garments. The blonde gnashed his teeth together, "Get out of my way."

"No can do~," Yoruichi sang out as she appeared on a roof across from Ginrei. "That's pretty impressive what you did back there, Naruto-kun." As childish as it was, she kind of wanted to fight him before Ginrei got his hands on him.

Shisui appeared on another rooftop, and soon Yugito appeared with even more of the purple clad ninjas well and covered every possible opening that Naruto could use. He lowered his head and growled, "I said _get out of my way_." Naruto's voice was distorted and a few of the purple ninja felt a chill run up their spine.

"You should see yourself right now, Naruto, you look like an animal," Shisui commented and arched a brow when he felt Naruto's rieatsu spike even higher. "Ok, what are we going to do?" He turned to look at Ginrei for further instruction.

Ginrei shouted out loud, the beginning of an incantation, and everyone instantly picked up. Everyone present was muttering the same incantation and gathered their energy. "Bakudo #62: Hyapporankan," In everyone's hand was a blueish-white rod and they all threw it at the disgruntled Naruto, and all of the rods multiplied and pinned Naruto and the dead body of Deidara to the ground. There was no avoiding that, and he couldn't move at all.

The gray haired captain wrinkled his brow when he saw the boy still trying to break free, "It's over, boy."

The entire garden was decorated with hundreds of the rods that were being used to pin Naruto down. He was really _that_ much of a threat. Ginrei drew his sword, "Your life will serve as adequate payment for the ring. I hope Biwako's jewelry was worth it."

The ground started to shake, and a few of the purple clad ninja lost their footing, but Yugito grabbed one of them before they fell to the ground. Naruto's rieatsu was rising _again_ , "Just what is he?" She looked around for some kind of explanation for Naruto, who had just leveled an entire wing of the Kuchiki mansion, and was still rising in power. She watched in awe as some of the rods being use to pin him broke and faded into nonexistence. It was unlike anything she had ever seen.

' _Can you hear me now, Naruto?_ ' A voice boomed through the blonde's head and he nodded his head.

"Yeah, I can hear you loud and clear, _Kurama_."

 **XxX**

 **R.i.P Deidara**


	6. Illusions

**Chapter Six: Illusion**

Naruto's feet waded through dirty looking water; he walked with his head down. An ominous feeling looming over him made him look up, and the fearsome red eyes of a demon stared into the depths of his soul. The blonde's feet came to a stand still and his mouth twitched uncontrollably. He lifted an accusing finger and a monstrous laugh boomed throughout the sewer like environment.

" **You're back.** "

"I am," Naruto finally got words to leave his mouth and he continued forward slowly. "I know you, don't I?" He asked as he looked up at the hulking beast looking down on him.

" **Yes you do, kit** ," The giant fox sneered as it lifted its head from its haunches. It couldn't hide its almost childish like grin on its demonic face, " **We go** _ **way**_ **back, but you've always been stupid.** "

Naruto gnashed his teeth together, "Who are you calling stupid, fox? You're the one locked up in a sewer!"

The fox shut its eyes and nodded solemnly and the very water at Naruto's feet began to bubble. The blonde looked down and leapt backwards as the fox began to manifest itself outside of the cage. The bubbling manifestation of the demon fox opened its maw, while Naruto instinctively reached for a weapon on his body and the fox laughed, " **You really don't remember a thing do you?** " The fox asked the bewildered Naruto.

As his blue eyes locked with the demon's red orbs, a wave of nostalgia washed over him. His lips parted but nothing could come out. The grin on the foxes face made him furrow his brow. It was amused by his ordeal, "I didn't, but I think I do know you, you fox bastard." There was even more laughter and he started to regain the confidence he had before he appeared in this sewer. The boy walked through the bubbly avatar of the fox and it dissipated as he stepped up to the cage.

There was a seal slapped on the front of the cage and he suddenly levitated off of the ground and ripped the piece of paper off the metal. He moved back as the doors of the cage swung open and the demon being housed within his body poked its head out, " **So you know what happened?** "

"We got killed and now we're stuck in this Soul Society place," Naruto mused as he stood in front of the demon fox.

" **You're-** **I didn't die. I can't die. Our souls might be connected, but we will separate soon enough, and I'll be reborn in the world of the living before you do,** " The ground began to shake and reminded them both what was going on. " **Look, I can feed you memories, remind you how to fight, but resetting your entire mind will take some time. Get you and this Deidara kid out alive and worry about everything else later.** "

"Wait wha-"

The sewers faded away and Naruto looked down at his hands. They were glowing a brilliant yellow, flickering off of his body like flames. He looked up and saw the cold eyes of Ginrei Kuchiki staring him down and he narrowed his eyes.

"Your friend's life wasn't enough to sate my mind, until I see your blood I won't be content," Ginrei pointed his sword at the blonde.

Three clones of Naruto appeared out of thin air and covered him on each side. He knew the minute he twitched a muscle it would be an all out war in what was supposed to be a peaceful garden. He took a deep breath as he readied himself and suddenly the whole garden was at each other throats. Yugito and her guards came from one direction, Shisui and Yoruichi from another, and of course Ginrei slashing his way toward Naruto.

Tayuya wasn't far away, scrambling down the hallway as she approached the heavily guarded garden, bursting through the security and dropping jaw when she saw purple clad security flying in every direction, "Naruto!"

Naruto leapt out of the way of a slash from Ginrei, but it was followed up by him being blindsided by Shisui and slammed into a wall. Ginrei furrowed his brow as he prepared to go in for the kill, but a miniature version of the attack the leveled an entire wing of his house smashed into his side and sent him flying into another wall. His body hit the wall with a thud, hard enough to threaten the integrity of it as it cracked throughout.

The real Naruto was currently being pinned down by Shisui's blade stabbed through his ribs, but it didn't hurt as badly as it normally would have, "Let me go!" Shisui was caught by surprise when a fist was created from Naruto's reiryoku and smashed into his face, sending him tumbling backwards. Naruto placed his hand at the wound as it instantly healed itself, "I don't want to fight you guys. I got what I wanted, now I want to leave."

Shisui flipped back up to a stand and shook off the cobwebs from the strong punch, "No can do, kid. You signed up for the battle the moment you stepped foot in here," The messy haired Uchiha got back in fighting position. "Why stick your head out for a criminal, Naruto? You could have been one of us."

"Because he's the ... closest thing I had to family in the afterlife," Naruto admitted as he balled up his fist. "I can't trust you, you lied to me the moment you met me! At least Deidara was honest."

Tayuya called out to the boy, "NARUTO! CAN YOU NOT HEAR ME YOU FUCKER!?"

Naruto looked up at the angry red head who was now being carried away from the guards, "What?"

"THAT IDIOT ISN'T DEAD!"

As if on cue, a giant explosion rocked the garden and Naruto had to shield his body from flying chunks of debris. There were even more purple clad ninja flying past him and he looked up to see Deidara stepping through the hole with a victorious grin on his face, "Let's get out of here, kouhai! I don't want to die tonight!"

Naruto and Shisui were still in a standoff. His yellow eyes shifted around, still seeing Yugito, Yoruichi, and a recovering Ginrei in his line of vision. It definitely wasn't a fight he wanted parts in, even if he had his clones on his side. They were going to flank on Deidara soon enough, so he shot off of his foot and pushed past Shisui with great speed, and left nothing but a trail of yellow energy in his wake.

Ginrei had blood freely leaking from his side and he clutched at the wound with one hand, and pointed in Naruto's direction with the other, "AFTER HIM!" Shisui and Yoruichi disappeared in a quick shunpo while Yugito ran in to aid him. She tried to help him walk but he swatted her away with his free hand, leaning over him to grab his sword off of the ground. "Return to Byakuya-kun, this is officially Gotei 13 business."

"Kuchiki-sama, you're _hurt_ ," She stood her ground in front of her boss and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Leave it to the second division, it's their specialty; you're in no condition to be fighting right now. The clan needs you." Yugito knew she had no control over the man, but at least tried her hand at swaying his decision. She turned on her heel and went to follow the order he had given her.

The old man sighed and grabbed Yugito by her wrist, "Go after them." He sheathed his blade and went to return to his compound for now, "I'll tend to the clan as you suggested. I'll leave the intruders to you and the second division."

Yugito bowed to her boss and smiled, "Thank you, Ginrei-sama." The woman disappeared with a quick shunpo to follow after them.

Ginrei still stood in the garden, as more of his personal guards descended down the stairs to assist them. A lot of their men had been disarmed and disgruntled by Naruto and his clones easily and it infuriated him to no end. He stepped over unconscious bodies with a frown as he met the guards halfway, "Bring me Tayuya, _right now_."

"Yes sir."

 **XxX**

(With Deidara & Naruto)

The escape from the compound from easy, but tearing through Seireitei back toward the gates wasn't an option at all. Naruto let the energy shroud fall, since it made him look like a beacon in the night, as he and Deidara were currently hiding out in an alleyway that still wasn't that far from the Kuchiki mansion. Naruto was sitting against the wall, breathing heavily, "What are you doing here!?"

"What do you mean?" Deidara laughed as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "You're not happy to see me, kouhai?"

"I am, I just-"

Deidara lifted his head and gestured for Naruto to look, revealing a fresh slash wound going down from part of his neck down his torso, "That old bastard wasn't quick enough to slash my throat open, but I'll manage until we find somewhere to stay, un." His voice sounded like he was hurt, but he covered it up nicely. "Even you said I picked up that Henge stuff pretty easily, so I applied the same principles to make it seem like I was a headless broad."

"I guess that doesn't matter right now, we need to move," Naruto said as he pushed himself up to a stand and walked up to his sensei. "Where do we go though?"

"Find somewhere to hide for tonight, and we'll transform into some random tomorrow and make our way out of Seireitei," Deidara explained as he bit back the immense pain that came from his wound as he moved his head. "That safe place was supposed to be the Kuchiki compound, but we fucked that up didn't we?"

"Yeah, about leaving Seireitei," Naruto said awkwardly as he placed a reassuring hand on Deidara' shoulder. "No can do, I found out about something called the Senkaimon. I need to get to it."

Deidara furrowed his brow, "You've lost your mind, kouhai!"

"No, this is something I need to do," Naruto said as he removed his hand and walked past Deidara. He went to the edge of the alley and looked into the dead streets to see if someone was coming. Underneath all of the large noble compounds were smaller compounds for the lower noble houses. Hopefully they wouldn't tip off any alarms, "I just don't know where to find another one, that's why I need your help."

"I already said you're getting too big for your britches, we need to go home," Deidara grabbed Naruto by the elbow and dragged him back into the alley. He stabbed his index finger into his partner's chest to reiterate his point, "Messing with the Gotei is a death wish, un. We need to get out of here, Naruto. If you want to come back here, that's fine, just do it _without_ me."

When Deidara saw the unwavering look in his friend's eyes he clenched his teeth, "You're going to do it anyway, aren't you, Naruto?" A simple nod made him groan and turn away from the boy. He placed his hand on his head and sighed, "You're a real pain in the ass, I hope you know, un."

"I've been told, but I've also been told that I'm a knucklehead, and I know that it's true," Naruto stepped up to Deidara and turned him around. "Please, just help me out with this one. I'll owe you one big time when we get back; I just need to figure some things out."

There was a long air of silence while the two blondes had a stand off. Deidara couldn't fight back the little bit of curiosity when it came to finding out what was eating away at Naruto so badly. He broke away from their stare off and looked to the sky, wondering if he was really going to risk a bloody fight with the Gotei just to get Naruto back to the world of the living, "You'll owe me one alright, un." He smiled at Naruto and the boy grinned back at him.

After going through something of a rough night, they brought each other into a tight embrace and laughed quietly. It wasn't everyday you raided the Kuchiki compound and made it out alive. It was a reason to celebrate.

They broke away from the hug and nudged each other happily, but suddenly Naruto tensed up. His ears perked up as he heard foot steps approaching. They were quick and almost silent, but his enhanced senses picked up on them. Naruto grabbed Deidara by the arm, and the yellow cloak of energy burst to life, as they quickly disappeared into the night once more and a trail of yellow energy was all that was left.

Shisui walked up to the ledge of the building he was standing on and looked down into the alley. It was completely empty, "There's no one down there, Yoruichi-taichou." He turned around to face the brown skinned lady standing before him, "He was definitely here though."

"Well isn't this fun? A good old fashioned chase through Seireitei," Yoruichi hopped down from the ledge and landed in the alley, sniffing the air and looking around playfully. Shisui arched his brow as he followed her down into the alley and tried to see what she was doing. The woman continued to sniff the air, as if she would really catch a scent, "My nose might not be quite like a dog's, but I can smell an irregularity at least."

"Stop playing with me," Shisui grinned slyly. "You're just sensing rieatsu; this has nothing to do with your nose."

"You're correct, Shisui-kun," Yoruichi placed her hands on her hips as she walked to the end of the alley. "He might have gotten better at hiding it, but I can still feel his immense rieatsu. That's half the battle, because all of sudden he knows how to move like us. I can't hear his footsteps and he covers his tracks well."

"We need back up then," Shisui concluded and Yoruichi nodded.

"That's right, but it'll take a while to mobilize, we still need to act now," Yoruichi placed her hand on her subordinates shoulder and smiled. "Return to the barracks for me and issue the order, I'll stay out here to find Naruto; he's a high level threat now."

"As you wish," Shisui said before he disappeared with a quick shunpo.

"Alright, boy, I'm coming for you," Yoruichi said as she ran out of the alley to continue her search.

 **XxX**

A fast shadow blew by Deidara and Naruto's hiding spot and they held their breath in silent fear as the person passed by. Naruto was about to open his mouth but Deidara quickly slapped his hand over his kouhai's mouth and held his own index finger over his own mouth and hissed. Whoever had passed felt familiar, which meant it was either Shisui or Yoruichi. Once the presence was gone he moved his hand and let Naruto run his mouth.

"What the hell was that for!?" Naruto yelled, but still whispered at his partner.

"You just want to get caught, don't you?" Deidara flicked him on his forehead and groaned. "Those guys specialize in covert ops, they could have snuffed us out in a second, un."

"So did I, well, not exactly covert, but I understand how it works, 'ttebayo," Naruto had Kurama slowly streaming him memories, and it was beginning to all come back to him, but it was still fuzzy for the time being. It would probably take weeks for his entire lifetime to be replanted into his mind, "We need to find a new place to stay, and then find out where another Senkaimon is. We blew our chance at using the Kuchiki's."

"There's definitely one in the city, un," Deidara said looked around cautiously. He and Naruto were sneaking around quietly trying to work their way out of the noble district. "That's something only a shinigami would know where to find."

"Well we need to find a shinigami," Naruto said with a smile that nearly made Deidara's stomach turn. "Someone we can trust though, you wouldn't happen to have any Shinigami friends you can blackmail would you?"

"Nope," a new voice entered their conversation, and there stood Yoruichi on a rooftop with a smile on her face. "Did you really think the Captain of the 2nd division wouldn't be able to find two little boys from Rukongai?"

"Um, no, I just hoped it would take longer," Naruto admitted and turned to Deidara. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up."

"Are you stupid?" Deidara asked as he backed away once Yoruichi hopped onto the ground.

"A little bit, just go!"

Deidara ran off while Yoruichi walked right up to Naruto, smiling as they locked eyes, "Confident and cute," she nestled his cheek with her hand and smiled when a light blush was on Naruto's face. "We don't have to do this, you know? I can arrest you, and I'll make sure I visit you every once and while, if they don't execute you."

"No can do, lady," Naruto smacked away her soft hand and leapt backwards to put some distance between them. "I have shit I need to do," He got into a fighting position and readied himself to fight for his life once again.

"Mmmm, nothing like a man with a motive," Yoruichi ran forward, not even moving at full speed, but still outclassing Naruto. She smashed her foot into the center of his chest and sent him skidding out into the street from the alley they were in.

Naruto's main intention was to transform into his Nine-tails chakra mode but Yoruichi moved faster than he anticipated. She leapt right at him and threw another punch, which Naruto guided out of the way. Yoruichi used his arm as leverage, flipping up and placing her hands on his shoulders and then swinging back down and locking her legs around his neck. Naruto stumbled backward, trying to pry her legs off, but she tightened her grip.

Showing off her strong core strength, Yoruichi bent back and threw Naruto down the street with only her legs. He tumbled across the ground and his skin grated against the concrete. Before he could even get the chance to move a muscle, he looked up and saw Yoruichi standing over him. The woman leaned over and grabbed Naruto by the shirt, lifting him off of the ground, "Now, Naruto, is it?" She looked at him with a raised brow, and Naruto had no choice but to nod, "What exactly is it that you _need_ to do?"

"I have a whole village I need to protect!" Naruto cried out and suddenly head butted Yoruichi, jumping away in the slight moment that she was disgruntled. With a simple hand sign twenty clones of him came to life and all chanted in unison, "Let's show her Uzumaki Naruto gets down!" They swarmed her in all directions trying to land hits. Naruto's true motive was hidden by the sheer amount of clones he created, Yoruichi doing a good job dispelling some of them, but one moved through the crowd with purpose and landed a strong hit to her face that made her skid backwards down the street.

Three more clones flanked her on all sides, sliding across the ground and kicking her into the air. The original Naruto burst out from the crowd, and jumped off of a clone's shoulder to meet her in the air. He twisted his body to prepare a lethal heel drop to Yoruichi's stomach, but she caught him by the ankle and spun her own body to throw Naruto right back down into amassed crowd of clones. A few clones popped out of existence from the impact, a dent in the ground was made underneath Naruto's body after being thrown so hard.

He groaned in pain, while Yoruichi dropped out of the sky, pouncing right on top of one of his clones like a kitten, "That was impressive, Naruto! Shisui was right when he said you were a worthy opponent, definitely know how to adapt to a situation, but," she had her knees locked around the clone's head and squeezed its head, making it pop. The other clones continued to swarm her, and she grabbed one of them by the arm and swung him around like a rag doll. She threw the clone into another and they both popped out of existence, "Shisui-kun and I are in two different leagues. I know you're new to this, but there are thirteen divisions of the Gotei, and each division has ranking officers. Shisui is a seated officer, then there's a lieutenant, and the strongest of everyone in the division is the captain. I don't know if I've properly introduced myself, but I'm Shihōin Yoruichi: Captain of the Second Division."

In an instant all of the clones dispelled when Yoruichi stopped holding back her immense spiritual pressure to intimidate Naruto. The boy nearly crumbled under it, but let his spiritual pressure release as well to combat hers. They were at a standoff in the middle of the street, Yoruichi smiling at Naruto while he just stared back at her, "I don't care who you are, if you're not going to help me, I need you to get out of my way."

"You said you had a whole village to protect, I know it's not in Rukongai or else you would have headed straight for the gates, so it must be in the world of the living," Yoruichi deduced and smirked when she saw Naruto's facial expression fluster slightly. "Just like you want to protect your village, I need to protect Soul Society. Naruto, you're unstable and you're a threat, please just come back with me, I'll try to do whatever I can to help."

Naruto's face twisted in confusion, her choice of words throwing him off completely. Things like 'unstable,' 'threat,' and her trying to cool him down like he was a monster on the loose, when really he was just a man on a mission. He didn't have time to wait for Soul Society to understand what was going on, he needed to go back _now_ , "I'm sorry lady, but I don't have time to wait, the world needs me back ASAP!" Naruto pushed off of his right foot and Yoruichi still showed that she was the faster of the two and landed a fast punch in his cheek that sent him flying backward.

' _Looks like you could use some help, kit,_ ' Kurama said with a hearty laugh that made Naruto groan.

'Every time I try to she's already in my face, she's too fast, and it takes longer to establish a connection here for some reason,' Naruto shook off her most recent hit when he saw her moving in once more. Yoruichi ran in and started throwing a flurry of punches that he couldn't keep up with. Most of them were landing, and she planted a powerful fist in his gut that nearly made him buckle over.

"Just give up, Naruto," The woman wrapped her hands around his neck and threw his head forward into her knee and busted his nose open. Blood gushed out as she followed up by swinging her other leg into his head and sending him rolling across the ground once more. "I'll beat you into a pulp if that's what it takes baby, but there's no need for you to be hard headed."

'Keep her talking, Naruto,' Kurama instructed as he started feeding his host energy.

 **XxX**

Deidara was grumbling curses under his breath as he looked for a spot to stow away for the night. Naruto had done the liberty of offering to fight against a captain level shinigami, so it was the least he could do in the mean time. He didn't know why, but he trusted and believed that Naruto would come out on top, so he would do his part until then.

For Deidara, trying to find a hide away in the Kuchiki and their subsidiaries district was close to impossible. All of his connections were in Rukongai and so were his safe houses. After being in the compound with his grandmother at first, and then the second time with Naruto; he _knew_ there would be security sweeps in the middle of the night, so he couldn't truly find a place until he and Naruto were all the way out of their district.

He didn't understand why Naruto was so hell bent on finding another Senkaimon, but he'd help his student no matter what despite how much he wanted to return to Rukongai.

The blonde sneaked through the streets quietly, but suddenly tripped over his feet and fell onto the ground. His ears perked up when he heard rapid foot steps moving around him and sprung to a stand. He looked around cautiously and tried make a break for it, but the sound of a female's voice made him freeze where he stood. It was another fellow blonde making her way up the street with bladed gauntlets on her hands.

"I knew I'd find you," Yugito said with a smirk on her face as she approached Deidara, "There's no use in running either. You're under arrest."

"You can't arrest me, un, you're just a security guard," Deidara spat back at her and she giggled.

"I can arrest you," Shisui said as he walked up the other side of the street. "Infiltrating a noble's compound is a crime, so is breaking into Seireitei. You're coming with me."

"No can do, un," Deidara said as he looked over his shoulder to see the shinigami, and then back at Yugito who was ready to turn him to minced meat. As much as it seemed like the sensible option, he couldn't surrender. There was no telling what the Gotei would do to him, let alone Ginrei Kuchiki. He took a deep breath and smirked, "You're going to have to drag me down there bleeding, because I'm not going down without a fight."

Deidara's skin literally crawled when he heard metal sliding against the sheath. Shisui had him and Naruto running for hours and nearly burned them to death with his kido. He had fought Sui-feng, who was probably equally skilled, but he doubted the same methods he used on her would work against someone as stoic as Shisui. Then there was Yugito, who only make things more problematic.

Was he really about to do this?

"This is your last warning," Shisui said as he prepared for a fight.

Deidara sighed, "I already said no can do."

"Very well then."

 **XxX**

 **Next chapter will be out soon. Read my other stories in the mean time though. :**


	7. The Real Naruto

**Chapter Seven  
**

Yoruichi dashed down the street once more and planted her feet in the square of Naruto's chest, sending the boy flying into a wall; breaking it upon impact. The woman walked with a lot of charisma toward him as he crumpled to the ground, "I know you're not done yet, Naruto!~" She sang sweetly despite how bad she was beating him down. The boy buckled down to the ground before her and she sat him upright with her foot. His face was gushing with blood, it almost made her feel sad until Naruto smiled, "That's the spirit, kiddo."

"I'm. not. Coming," Naruto said firmly and spat out blood right at Yoruichi's foot, she twitched slightly when it almost touched her haori. His blood filled toothy grin was infectious, because the Captain of the Second Division smiled as well. "Just leave me be, I won't be any more trouble." Naruto tried to raise his hands in a placating fashion but he was exhausted.

The brown skinned woman kneeled down and stared Naruto deep in his eyes, "You and I both know that's a lie." She smirked and Naruto laughed a few times before coughing up blood. She nestled his cheek with her hand, "You're a danger to my home. You can't be trusted, I offered to help you, and you denied it. I can't turn the other cheek on this one, as much as I would love to. You're a real knucklehead, I hope you know; a loveable one."

"'Ttebayo," Naruto chirped despite the immense amount of pain he was in.

"Cute," Yoruichi stood up and cracked her neck. "This was fun and everything, but we're done now." The woman swung her leg around and smashed it into Naruto's head with enough force to make his skull bounce off the wall. He passed out immediately and she caught him by the back of his shirt before his face hit the pavement.

She easily hoisted him over her shoulder, and now her only other problem was Deidara. Shisui and Yugito had probably handled that by now, so she was just about ready to go.

Within Naruto's mind Kurama was about to lose his wits laughing, 'You're quite the tactician, kit!' He continued laughing, 'It'll work though. You'll be back up and running in a few seconds, relax until then. I'm not sure if you're pretending or not.' Those few seconds passed, and Naruto didn't say a word to Kurama, or even twitch. 'Naruto! Can you hear me!?'

'NARUTO!'

 **XxX**

"Naruto," A man poked the blonde repeatedly but eventually sighed and stuffed his hand back into his pocket. "Na-ru-to," He tried once more, although it was a lazy attempt. He didn't raise his voice, shake the man, or put in any real extra effort to wake him up other than talking. Once the man didn't respond he shrugged his shoulders and sat back down in his seat, lighting up a cigarette while he waited for his boss to come to.

A few more minutes passed and the smell of the cigarette finally managed to wake Naruto up. He furrowed his brow instantly, "What did I say about smoking in here?" The man stood up and adjusted his robes but suddenly froze. He wasn't covered in blood, and he was… adjusting his robes like he used to. Naruto looked up at the man who was putting out the cigarette in his personalized ash tray, "Shikamaru, how long have I been sleep?" He asked as he placed his hands on his head and slowly backed into the wall.

"I don't know… that doesn't matter anyway," Shikamaru said as he approached Naruto's desk. He squinted at the man who looked paranoid for some reason, "You're acting… troublesome. Look, your son got in a mess again. He dropped a gallon of baby powder on Konohamaru."

Naruto's face twitched, "I need to go get him for that?"

"He's been kind of wild lately, they want you to talk him or something," Shikamaru shrugged. "I would tell you this is super important, but it seems like you do whatever you want anyway. I can respect that," The pony-tailed man left the room and Naruto stood there in silence for a few moments to bask in what's going.

He lifted his hands and stared deeply at them. They weren't the same as they were in Soul Society. He was a boy in the afterlife, which confused him. Here he was a man, leader, father, and husband. A smile graced his features thinking about all he had in the world of the living, and he formed fists when he felt himself shaking. He was nervous.

It felt like eons since he had seen his village, let alone his family. Naruto lowered his head and continued to grin, and then he looked at his desk full of papers. The man kicked it over and laughed triumphantly, "Fuck this." He raised his arms to the sky and continued to laugh like a mad man, "Fuck this!"

A woman's voice entered his ears, "Fuck what exactly?" Naruto snapped up straight when the emerald green eyes of Haruno Sakura were examining him in a weird fashion. She had a folder under her arm, as well as a skeptical facial expression plastered on her face. Naruto had matured a lot as grew, so it was rare to see him acting like his old childish self. She pulled out the folder and held it out toward Naruto, "You requested this."

Naruto accepted the folder with a wide smile and then ripped it in half, "Not toda—" He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before the same desk he kicked over was lunged right at him, sending him flying through the wall of his office and landing on the street. He winced in pain as Sakura leapt from the newly created hole in his office and landed right on top of him. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him deathly close to her face, the woman was literally fuming with anger.

Sakura had a death grip on Naruto, "I just walked halfway across Konoha to _hand deliver_ this folder for you, and you just tore it in half!?"

"Um, gotta go, 'ttebayo," Naruto disappeared in a swift shushin and Sakura was left punching the ground in front of the Hokage mansion. He could still feel the ground shaking when he reappeared a few blocks away with his huge smile still glued onto his face. "I should probably go see my wife, shouldn't I?" The Hokage asked no one in particular and took off with a new motive.

He whipped out his mobile device and texted his spouse immediately as he dashed through the village. There were children screaming his name happily as he waved back and covered the distance to his house. He leaped up onto a rooftop to move faster, sending out multiple texts as he approached his house. Naruto pocketed his phone as he landed on his doorstep and slowly opened the door.

His daughter stormed toward the entrance and hugged his leg, he lifted her up happily and hugged her tightly, "Daddy missed you so much!" Himawari laughed as Naruto kissed her cheek playfully while working toward the kitchen. The moment he saw his wife he set his little girl down and whisked Hinata off of the ground and carried her away from her burning stove top. "Daddy missed you too," He kissed her on the lips deeply and the woman blushed.

"Naruto," She smiled hit him jokingly as she pulled away from the kiss. "You're going to burn the house down." He set her down on the ground, but she nestled her head against hers. "It's nice of you to come home for lunch though, the _real_ you." Naruto stiffened up like a board and scratched his head eerily, "You thought I couldn't tell?"

"Mmm, I know couldn't pull anything past my beautiful wifeeeeeee~," Naruto made a childish kissy face and held his hands out, "Come he-" Hinata placed her hands over his lips and returned to the kitchen to watch over their lunch. He could do nothing but continue to laugh as he took off his robe and hung it up so he could get comfortable.

The man rubbed his hands together as he went to take a seat at the table, his daughter joined him on his lap. He rubbed her head soothingly, "And what have you done today, Himawari-chan?"

"I helped mama make dumplings!" She yelled excitedly and was rewarded with another barrage of kisses to her cheek.

"I can't wait to taste them baby girl," Naruto said in response and licked his lips like he was visualizing the dumplings already.

The serene environment was completely destroyed when their front door went flying through the kitchen. Naruto turned his head to see a grown man clad in green with his thumbs up, as well as an identical child companion in two with the same pose. They both shouted, "DYNAMIC ENTRY." The man then instantly started shedding tears of joy, "MY SON, YOU HAVE WALKED DOWN THE PATH OF YOUTHFULNESS SO EXCELLENTLY, I COULD NOT BE ANY MORE PROUD."

"DOUBLE DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

Naruto turned his head and saw another grown man clad in green kick through his window and land on his dining room table. He blinked repeatedly trying to process what was going on.

"LEE!"

Both Rock Lee and his son shouted, "GAI-SENSEI!"

Gai raised his hands into the sky and shouted, "LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

A sunset appeared out of nowhere and all three green clad ninja were crying all of a sudden.

It all dissipated when a man with gravity defying hair walked calmly past Rock Lee and Metal Lee so he could find a seat within his student's house, "Yo." His calm demeanor apparently killed the taijutsu specialist's mood as he sat down. "Any reason you invited us all over here?"

"I felt like we all deserved a day off," Naruto said with a smile, "Isn't that right, Himawari?"

"Yes, daddy!"

"Quite the youthful endeavor!" Rock Lee punched, kicked, and sliced the air, "Because I have been working triple time to make sure our village stays youthful!"

Another newcomer joined the fray, pushing past Rock Lee and his son, "You don't ever get tired of talking about that crap?" The platinum blonde haired woman was accompanied by a pale gentleman. "You're going to be kicking the bucket soon, _nothing_ youthful about that. Hell, I don't even want to think about it."

"Nice of you to join us, Ino," Naruto said with a grin. Her patented sarcasm was a relief, and he continued to feel refreshed as more and more of his friends and their kids continued to arrive for the big lunch he planned with his day off. There were multiple conversations going on around the room, reminiscing, catching up with what was going on in lives, and it made Naruto feel better at least for today. He knew that work was stressful on everyone and wanted to get rid of that for a day.

As lunch was being set up, he noticed two people still hadn't arrived for the big get together. His son and his best friend, and that was a bit unsettling. He sent out a mass text to everyone letting them know, he could almost understand Sasuke, but his own son skipped the giant gathering. He got up from the table while everyone was enjoying themselves and stepped outside, sitting on the porch of his house.

A few minutes passed, and a smile started to creep back on his face when he saw a small figure approaching in the distance. Once he made it out, it was none other than his son Boruto. He stood up and met the boy halfway, placing his hand on his head, "What's going on sport?"

There was no response and he threw Naruto's hand away as he continued walking up to the now missing front door of their house.

Naruto seemed confused, "What's the matter?"

"You forgot about me, like you _always_ do," Boruto spat out as he turned to face his father with a mean expression on his face. He stepped off of the porch and looked up menacingly at Naruto, "You were supposed to come and get me, and instead you invite all of your friends over for a fucking party! It's like I don't matter!"

"You do matter," Naruto felt his voice crack while talking to his son. Something about this moment felt intensified, "Don't think I don't care about you, Boruto, I do, but until today I didn't realize how immersed in my work I was. You should always come first, _always_." He tried to reach out to his son, but the boy smacked his hand away once more.

"You can't just throw a party and act like shit is okay, _it's not_ ," Boruto growled at his dad, pushing him away. The man stumbled and fell onto the ground, "This is the first time in _years_ I've seen _you_ doing something, the _real_ you and not just a clone. And what do you do? Throw something for yourself, _your_ pleasure. You act like we matter, but _we_ **DON'T.** " Boruto's tone got darker as he continued to speak.

An immense amount of pressure started to fill the air and Naruto could barely move, " **YOU'RE NOT A REAL MAN. YOU'RE NOT A REAL HOKAGE. YOU'RE NOT A REAL FATHER.** " Boruto hissed, his eyes taking on a red tint and the markings on his cheeks starting to become more feral. His teeth sharpened and the boy bared his canines at his father, roaring out in anger. " **THE LIFE YOU WANT WILL NEVER BE REAL. YOU'RE JUST TOO SCARED TO ADMIT THAT, NARUTO. YOU'RE NOTHING MORE THAN A COWARD, ISN'T THAT RIGHT?** " As the boy continued talking his transformation kept getting more aggressive, tails sprouting out from his back, and he fell over to his haunches as he continued to turn into the nine-tailed fox.

Everyone started emerging from the house and crowding around the giant fox, who still held some of Boruto's features. Naruto was sweating profusely as all eyes set on him, since he was supposed to be the one to stop this. He was the Hokage after at all, "I—" The man couldn't move a muscle, trying desperately to clench his fist and stand but he was feeling… fear, which was something he wasn't used to.

Hinata stepped forward, "What's happening Naruto?" The woman had to keep her daughter away, the little girl was crying hard while attached to her mother's leg.

Everyone kept droning on with the words, 'What's happening Naruto?'

The weird mixture of Boruto and Kurama's face had a wild grin, " **I was right about you. You're just a weakling, Naruto!** "

" **STAND UP NARUTO!"**

" **NARUTO!"**

 **XxX**

Naruto's eyes sprung open and he suddenly erupted in the yellow aura he was waiting on. Yoruichi was caught by surprise and he broke free, leaping away from her. He was breathing erratically, 'How long was I out, Kurama?' He asked his partner, while staring at his hand in awe.

'I wouldn't worry about that, you should duck though,' Kurama said calmly and Naruto didn't register what he meant; taking a strong sucker punch to the face. The boy caught her next swing and held onto her arm, furrowing his brow while they were at a standoff for the first time in a while. She smirked at him, while he could only grit his teeth. The struggle for power was so great that both started to buckle after a few minutes of not moving a single inch.

Yoruichi was actually starting to get frustrated, "Why are you so stubborn?" Any regular criminal would have been caught by now, but she was literally spending day and night trying to bring Naruto in. He had caused all sorts of hell and she couldn't just let him walk after what happened at the Kuchiki mansion, "I think you would rather die than be captured by me, huh?"

Naruto grinned toothily, "You might be right, old lady," He joked as he broke away from the power struggle and two arms jutted out from his back and started forming a giant Rasengan. "How about we just move straight to the end? Pit my strongest attack against yours." He knew Yoruichi was classified as a Captain, and from what he saw from Shisui there were levels to their power. She had yet to even draw a sword, so surely she had more in store for him.

The woman looked at Naruto with a raised brow, "Are you sure that's what you want?" Yoruichi rolled her neck with a smile when Naruto nodded. He had a death wish she had no problem granting, "Okay then. Let's do it." She held her hand out to the side, "You're probably going to be the first _and_ last person to see this." Her spiritual pressure spike by a great deal and Naruto didn't falter, which made her laugh. "You really are a knucklehead."

Before they could go any further, the entire night sky lit up and the sound of an explosion followed right after. A shockwave threw off their balance and both of them fell to the ground. The wave of debris storming through the streets in every direction came next and both of them shielded themselves from the flying destruction. Yoruichi blocked her eyes but came to a stand, the string of explosions still hadn't stopped, and she looked to see where it was all coming from.

Chunks of concrete flying by were cutting up her skin, but she _had_ to see where the source of the explosion was. She could only mouth the words 'the capital' because the woman was instantly in a state of shock. Yoruichi turned to Naruto, who was still shielding his eyes and grinded her teeth together. Seireitei's well being was a thousand times more important than a thief, but he was dangerous. She was conflicted, but the sound of one more huge explosion told her to leave, "You're lucky, Naruto."

She disappeared and left Naruto in the middle of the street as the explosions continued to go on. He moved his arm and saw that the woman had left, and then looked in the direction she headed. In his Nine-Tails mode he could sense ill intent, and there was a ridiculous amount coming from Seireitei, "What just happened?" He asked himself as he came to a stand. She said he was lucky, but he didn't want to thank whatever what was going on for his freedom, because people could actually be dying at the moment.

If Yoruichi chose to return to Seireitei, then Shisui probably did as well, which meant he and Deidara could live to fight another day.

 **XxX**

(Moments Before The Explosion)

Yugito tried to crawl forward, blood flowing freely from the wound on her arm. She looked up and saw Shisui pinned to the wall with his own sword stabbed through his arm. The woman could only move a few more inches before she fully collapsed and passed out. She gave everything she had but it simply wasn't enough.

Shisui was still conscious, breathing heavily as he forced himself to pull his sword out of his arm and hiss quietly to himself in pain. He stabbed the sword into the ground and continued to hold himself up with it. He wasn't as bad off as Yugito, and he could probably still fight, but it was irritating more than anything. Deidara and Naruto were supposed to be regular residents, not super powered freaks with unexplainable abilities.

He spun his sword in his grip as Deidara was now approaching him, the blonde's energy felt different and the sclera of his eyes were black, his pupils a vibrant yellow color. Deidara couldn't hide the wild grin on his face as he walked up to Shisui, and the shinigami defensively pointed his sword at him, "Don't worry, un." He grabbed the sword by its blade and removed it from Shisui's grasp, tossing it away. "This won't hurt as bad as you think."

Shisui growled lowly, "What are you?"

"I'm just like you," Deidara danced around the question as he pulled his arm back, "Any last words?" Shisui remained silent and Deidara simply shrugged, but before he could knock out the speedy shinigami, an explosion rocked the entire area. Shisui used the distraction to break for his sword, while Deidara's head turned in the direction of the explosion, "The capital?" When Shisui tried to blindside him, he leapt out of the way easily and slid to a stop.

The Uchiha was breathing heavily, "I've got bigger fish to fry now," He said as he gestured toward Seireitei. "You are the luckiest man in Soul Society, because you should be dead."

"What you saw here stays between you and me, un," Deidara said as his eyes reverted back to normal. Debris flying in every direction cut their conversation short as both souls tried to find cover in the literal storm of destruction that was terrorizing the street. Yugito's body was blown away, Shisui didn't notice, and Deidara didn't care. They were both worried about bigger things. The blonde went to find cover while Shisui immediately headed for the capital to regroup and see what was going on.

Deidara's main focus was reuniting with Naruto.

 **XxX**

The sound of an EKG beeping was the only thing that could be heard within the room. There was a man working tirelessly, shifting throughout the lab while marking things on his clipboard. He tucked the pen behind his ear once everything on his checklist was complete. He stood in front of a large holding tank full of liquid. When he felt another presence enter the room he continued looking at the holding tank, "Nice of you to join me, Sasuke-kun." The pale man turned to face his former protégé.

Sasuke was a man with shoulder length hair, covering one of his eyes. He was tall in stature and very lean. His stoic face was matched by his silent demeanor as he stared at the body within the holding tank for a long period. He approached the tank and stood next to his former mentor in a dragged on silence. He was rarely happy, but today he _really_ wasn't happy.

"Still haven't told the villagers he's dead I see," The man snickered as he handed the clipboard over to Sasuke for him to view.

"Because he's not dead, yet," Sasuke looked between the clipboard and the man within the holding tank; Uzumaki Naruto. His body was being preserved through impure means because he and Orochimaru were acting on something of a hunch he had. "I can still feel his energy, somewhere. Once I pinpoint the location I can figure out what's going on." He handed the clipboard back to Orochimaru and walked away from the holding tank.

"Hm, I believe you, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru continued to snicker as he continued his work. The youthful looking elderly waved like a child as Sasuke left the room to continue his own research, and Orochimaru then returned to keeping Naruto's body preserved. Once he felt Sasuke's presence disappear completely, he set his clipboard down and approached the tank.

The man pressed his body against it, his eyes widening and his smile wouldn't fade away. Orochimaru's snake like tongue slithered out as he openly salivated at the thought of his next move. He was staring at his golden opportunity right in the face. Orochimaru couldn't fight his maddening laughter as he fell to his knees and continued to look up at Naruto's lifeless body.

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun! You'll be making your return soon!"

 **XxX**

 **I swear. I swear. I swear. I didn't mean to take this long, I got lost on the road of life or something like that, and Luke Cage distracted me, but here it is. More soon, stay wavy.**


	8. Deal With The Devil

**Deal With The Devil**

"OW! OW! OW!"

Naruto rolled over in his sleep, seemingly unphased by all the noise coming from the next room.

"AHHHHH, OW! OW! OW!"

The snoring continued.

"FUCK, UN! COULD YOU MAKE THIS HURT LESS!?"

Finally, a bright blue eye crack opened after being so rudely awakened by the shouting of his sensei. He rolled over onto his back and stared at the roof, taking notice that he was in a room dimly lit by a candle sitting on a top of a dresser. He was lying down in a makeshift bed that had a certain amount of care put into it that let him know Deidara had nothing to do with it. His blue eyes traveled around the room trying to find out more about where had awaken at.

All he saw was a folded pile of clothes and a pair of slippers set neatly on top of it. He sat up, pushing the covers they had given him back as he came to an exhausted stand; yawning as he did so. Naruto out stretched his arms, the screams of Deidara luring him into the next room with a raised brow. He was frozen in his tracks upon entering finding the man lying on his stomach, on top of a table with multiple needles sticking out his body while a brown skinned woman calmly pricked each one out.

The former Hokage was on high alert, thinking he was being tortured by who he assumed to be Yoruichi, but once she looked up; he took notice of her white hair and soothing green eyes that assured him nothing was wrong, "Who is this? Where are we? What's going on?" Naruto shot off in rapid succession as he ran up to his sensei with big wondering eyes.

"She's someone that owes me a favor, un," Deidara said simply, hissing in pain as she removed another needle, "I THOUGHT THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HURT!"

Despite how loud he continued to get she kept her composure, "My name is Mabui," she stated simply, turning her head to only acknowledge Naruto. "I owe Deidara-kun no such favor, but rather Biwako-sama. You're back in Rukongai, and I'm currently healing your sensei because I was actually concerned about him… for once." She took out the last needle and stacked it neatly along with the other ones. With a gentle tap on the back, she gestured for Deidara to get off of table, "It's your turn Naruto-sa-, you healed?"

The shirtless boy looked over his body, noticing that he had indeed healed overnight. He was glad he got to avoid the acupuncture treatment, but didn't know how to explain how he magically recovered, "Yeah, I guess so." He smiled sheepishly and then turned his attention to Deidara, "Not to be rude, Mabui-chan, but can I speak to Deidara privately?" The woman nodded respectfully and got up.

"I'll go prepare breakfast for you both," She said, but before she left the room completely she had to say one last thing, "and then the both of you leave. _Forever_." The woman, in all of her calm demeanor; didn't particularly care for Biwako's 'grandson' Deidara, but she owed the woman for all that she provided to her. She disappeared and left the two blondes to their own devices.

As soon as he could sense she was gone, Naruto immediately turned Deidara with a furrowed brow, "WHY THE HELL ARE WE IN RUKONGAI AGAIN! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY PLAN!?" He was shaking his sensei furiously and it took Deidara smacking him in the face to make him stop. His fellow blonde ran a hand through his hair, breaking away from the boy's grip and traveled to the other side of the room while Naruto was turning red from anger. They sat there in a silence for a moment, but Naruto wasn't having it, "Don't just stand there, say something!"

"Kouhai… the plan is stupid," Deidara admitted bluntly, turning back to face his student. He got the reaction he expected, a boy with a maddened expression ready to explode, but he continued, "On top of that, you passed out last night and were in no condition to be fighting your way through Seireitei trying to find a fucking portal." He folded his arms over each other and narrowed his brow, "Trust me, that's not a fight you want to get into, un."

"Well we need to go back, right now!" Naruto blurted out, the only thing stopping him from pouncing on Deidara out of anger was the fact that he was his sensei.

"NO!" Deidara finally asserted, "Something happened last night and I don't know what. They're going to be on high alert, and you're basically asking for a death wish going back there so soon." The older blonde held his hands up in a placating manner, finally cracking a smile. "Just relax, un, I'll get you what you want soon."

Naruto frowned, he couldn't help it. With memories from his past life constantly being fed to him via the giant demon fox still embedded in his womb, he realized how much he lost, and how many people were still depending on him on the other side. A low groan escaped his lips and he let himself nod in semi-understanding as he plopped down in Mabui's seat with a depressed air to him. Naruto buried his face in his hands and sighed heavily.

Deidara approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder, but Naruto smacked it away, "It's going to be alright, kouhai. I just don't want you to die," He said with legitimate concern for his pupil as he retracted his hand back. "I'll tell you what, how about I teach you a new technique, un." The boy said with a smile and got a half-hearted smile from Naruto. He patted his disciple on the head and left the room to check on Mabui and the breakfast she owed him.

The blonde slammed his fist against the table the moment Deidara left, a crack splintering through the wood instantly and the table fell apart. Naruto lifted his fist and stared in silent awe, noticing that his former strength was beginning to return to him and he couldn't fully control it. The moment of realization still didn't make him any less mad that he had been returned to Rukongai against his will. He was so close to returning and now he was back at square one.

' _You should fix that,_ ' the demon within him cooed with a slight laugh.

Naruto stared at the table and shook his head, walking out of the room and went outside the house to already find Deidara in a one sided argument with Mabui. He yelled at her while she paid him no mind during the process of pulverizing herbs and powders to make seasoning for breakfast. She turned her green eyes to Naruto and offered a soft smile, motioning for the boy to join her and the screaming blonde.

The blue eyed soul approached slowly and sat down on her grassy lawn, she slid him a bowl of cut up fruit with her free hand while she worked to prepare the actual meal. He picked at it, disinterested in eating since there was so much on his mind. Naruto tried his hardest to tune everything out but it was too heavy on his brain, but after noticing he had sat there for minutes without saying anything; he lifted his head up to see Deidara directly in his face staring at him.

"Did you hear me?"

The boy shook his head for no.

"Mabui is forcing us to go catch the fish for our own breakfast, so let's go," Deidara extended a hand to Naruto, the boy accepting and he pulled him off of the ground. Before he stormed off like an upset child, he stuck his tongue out at Mabui who did nothing in response. Naruto followed silently behind him, "What better time to show you one of the most essential techniques in this life than now, un." He turned to face Naruto with a big smile.

Naruto wasn't excited.

"Come on kouhai, you can't stay mad at m-"

"Yes I can," Naruto walked past his sensei and continued on their path to find fish for Mabui to cook.

Deidara chased after Naruto, "Wait, you don't even want to learn the techn-"

"No."

Deidara visibly slumped and buried his face in his hand. Naruto was acting like a kid and he didn't know what to do, thinking that dangling a new technique in his face would get him out of the funk he had a hand in putting him in. The argument they had in Mabui's house didn't seem serious, but apparently it affected his kouhai more than he thought. He dragged along behind the boy who was now leading the way and tried to come up with another way to cheer Naruto up.

The more time he spent thinking, he noticed how much the silence was killing him. They were now walking down a trail that would lead them to a nearby lake, which was hidden in the center of the forest. The greenery was so thick and plentiful, Deidara got distracted by it. How Naruto managed to find it so easily, Deidara had no idea. When he refocused himself from admiring everything around him, he noticed that Naruto was nowhere in his line of sight. Instead of panicking he continued to look around, guiding loose branches out of his way as he continued to navigate through the area.

As he walked, he emerged through a thick bush that revealed a trail. There were miles ahead of him and he saw no fellow blonde in sight. He furrowed his brow and began his walk in search of not only the lake full of fish they were sent to find, but also his beloved student that he had pissed off. Walking in silence was driving the talkative soul crazy, and his journey took him for miles on the trail without seeing a drop of water, or a strand of blonde hair in sight.

He circled back around essentially giving up, but as he was about to exit through the bush that brought him onto the trail, from the side of the dirt road emerged a mop of blonde hair that he recognized with a bucket full of fish. The boy he was searching so hard for went right through the bush and left Deidara behind again. The eccentric soul furrowed his brow and charged right through the bush after him and screamed, "Kouhai!"

Naruto didn't turn his back as he continued to return to Mabui's house.

"Kouhai!"

"This technique," Naruto mumbled as he walked slowing his walk a bit so Deidara could catch him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! YEAH!" Deidara disappeared from behind Naruto and reappeared a few steps ahead of him. When Deidara turned to face Naruto he saw that the boy was actually grinning, "One of the four essential parts of fighting in Soul Society, and I need you to perfect at least three before we go charging in there again. Remember, footwork is everything, un." Deidara demonstrated his shunpo a few more times for the boy to see it.

"Wait, how am I supposed to do that?" Naruto asked with interest in his voice now, temporarily forgiving his sensei since he was doing his best to help in his endeavor of returning home. Naruto tried to mimic it, but ended up falling face first on the ground, while Deidara flaunted his efficiency in the technique by catching the bucket of fish before it hit the ground and walking off with it. The Uzumaki rolled to a stand and tried to get the bucket back from Deidara, but the man disappeared from his view and reappeared behind him.

"It's simple," Deidara did another shunpo in a straight line for Naruto to see. "Project your reiryoku in the path you want to travel, and follow it." He scratched his head and then shifted to scratching his chin as he wondered if that was an actual explanation of the technique.

Deidara watched as Naruto's face scrunched up trying make a path with his reiryoku and move along it. At first it seemed Naruto was beginning to get the hang of it, so like a good sensei he met him halfway and planted his geta into the center of his chest, sending him flying back. "Try not to telegraph your movements though, un." He knew Naruto would never make it against shinigami, let alone Captain level fighters without knowing their basics.

Naruto sat up with a furrowed brow, "What the hell?" He placed his hand over his chest where a wooden sandal had just pushed him back to his starting point.

"You'll never be good without tough love, u-" Naruto suddenly disappeared.

"Race me to Mabui-chan, 'ttebayo!" was the last thing Deidara heard in the wind as nothing but an afterimage of the Uzumaki was left in his wake.

He was a fast learner.

 **. . .**

 **(Mabui's House)**

Mabui slapped the seasoning on a piece of fish carelessly, not even lifting her head as two blondes came crashing into her lawn and nearly destroying her entire stove set up. She set their fish on the grill, sizzling the moment it came in contact with the heat and metal. Her ears didn't even perk up when she could clearly hear Deidara screaming about something. The white haired woman moved her hands from her lap and came to a stand, turning her back on Biwako's grandson and walking up to her porch, stopping on the last step, "There's the breakfast you were promised. Eat, leave, and never come back."

"YOU MADE US GO ALL THAT WAY TO GET FISH AND YOU ALREADY HAD SOME?" Deidara shouted again now that she was paying attention but still didn't get the answer he wanted.

"Oh, yes, your dirty clothes," The woman almost forgot, reaching inside her doorway and set a bag full of their belongings on the porch. "Goodbye," Mabui said a monotone voice as the door shut and she rid herself of the two blonde nuisances for what was hopefully forever.

The fisherman's jaw was slack as now only the sound of sizzling fish was filling his ears. Usually when someone owed Biwako a favor they treated him with the utmost respect, if you didn't include Tayuya and now Mabui, but these last few days were completely different. Maybe it was Naruto? He looked at his kouhai and shrugged, "These women really aren't taking a shine to you, un." He deduced with a smile, because surely it wasn't him or his personality causing any of this to happen.

Naruto shrugged as well, flipping the fish over to cook the other side, "Maybe." He played along for the moment despite knowing Deidara was the root of the problem. As the fish finished cooking they both picked at it, trying to satisfy the extreme appetite they worked up fighting against the gotei the night before. Deidara was scarfing his meal down while Naruto ate it half-heartedly, "So what now, sensei?"

"We go home," Deidara said in between bites. "I said I was going to help you, so I'm going to take you back to Biwako. She's the strongest person I know here, un," He gave the highest praise to his grandmother. The boy knew despite her personality and way of life, she could fold him or _anyone_ like fresh laundry in any battle if she needed to. His kouhai nodded in understanding, while he jumped up now that he was done eating and went to retrieve their bag full of clothing. "We might as well get a head start before night falls."

Naruto had now finished his meal and stood up as well. Since Mabui was deathly serious about them leaving her house and never returning, he decided to respect her wishes. Deidara however would probably be back the moment he needed something from the woman. The two were now heading off into the town they had to pass through on the way back to their home district. It was going to be a long walk back home.

The Uzumaki placed his hands behind his heads and allowed himself to be sucked into his thoughts, ignoring Deidara for the most part as he rambled about next big scheme and mentioning the finer things in life. Even though the fisherman expressed his concern for his newly adopted student, he was still mad that he was taken away from Seireitei and returned to Rukongai. The only bright side of it was the fact they had the ring Biwako sent them off to retrieve, so the trip wasn't in vain.

It would probably take an entire day to make their way back to Biwako's shack, but the two blondes didn't seem intent on stopping. Their travels had now taken them back into the thick of the forest, Naruto taking the lead here as they bounced from tree to tree; Deidara struggling to keep up with this method of moving. The Uzumaki looked back on his sensei with a smile, "Come on Deidara-sensei!" He leapt high into the air and landed in a grassy clearing, as Deidara tried to do the same, but got his foot stuck on a branch, and fell ungracefully.

The geta-wearing thief landed face first in the dirt and sat up, leaning back on his hands. He sighed deeply and brushed the dirt off of his face. The clearing was only a few feet away, but heard footsteps, "Hey, Naruto-kun, wait up!" He got off of the ground and ran into the clearing, only to see Naruto wrapped in yellow binding light. The boy struggled mightily to break free, but failed, and Deidara's eyes widened as he disappeared with a simple pop of smoke, but never reappeared.

"As I thought."

Recognizing the voice, Deidara immediately tried to run, but his body glowed red with aura which let him know he was trapped. He cursed under his breath as he found himself paralyzed, his body still twitching uncontrollably as he tried to break free. Deidara feared very few people in Soul Society, but this man shook him to his core. The sound of slow, paced footsteps filled his ears as he heard the man approaching.

"You let our subject give you the slip, Deidara, he was a clone," The man pushed up his glasses as he approached Deidara from behind. He walked around the paralyzed fisherman and now locked his brown orbs with Deidara's own blue ones and offered a sincere smile as he felt the boy shaking with fear. "You made me a promise, did you not?"

"I did!"

"Then where is Uzumaki Naruto?" The man asked, as he gestured around the open clearing with not another soul in sight. "I hear he's searching for the Senkaimon too, why is that?" The brown haired man lifted Deidara's chin with his finger as he continued to smile. "You let a man with great power and a self driven mission escape your sight. Deidara, you ensured me that you would keep him in Rukongai until instructed otherwise."

"Aizen-sama, I di-"

"Now you lie to me," Aizen nodded, turning his back on Deidara as pondered what he should do to punish his disobedient underling. The man lifted his head and stared at the moon, "I would like to remind you, Deidara-kun. Just as easily as I granted you two that power I can take it away from you _and_ Biwako-sama. All I ask in return is that when I need something from you, you deliver." The night sky illuminated and the ground shook slightly. A lot of loud explosions could be heard off in the distance, but Aizen didn't waver from his point. He could feel Deidara's gaze shifting elsewhere, "Focus."

"But-"

Aizen turned around to look at Deidara, lifting one hand slowly, while the other activated a tiger seal. The blue eyes of Deidara locked on Aizen's palm instantly, which had a kanji written on it that was currently shining an electric blue. Before he could even process what happened, a hollow's cero shot out from Aizen's hand in the blink of an eye and ripped a gaping hole in his stomach. The binding technique placed on the fisherman was released and he fell to his knees, Aizen remaining silent despite the damage he had just caused.

He returned his hand to his side, "Keep Naruto out of Seireitei until further notice. The same thing that attacked him tonight attacked you, when he asks. He'll find you soon enough," Aizen promised as he began walking off, Deidara bleeding out slowly under the moonlight. "Remember, be obedient." The man disappeared from the clearing with simple shunpo after that.

Deidara rolled over on his back with the little strength he had left and shut his eyes, just now trying to focus on breathing. A slight cough caught him off guard, spitting up blood as he clenched his hands throughout the grass and hoped his kouhai would actually find him.

"Shit, I fucked up." he said with a pained snicker.

Hopefully those weren't his last words.

 **. . .**

 **(Rukongai with Naruto)**

Time to think, that was all he needed.

Deidara made him mad, making part of him wanted to fully summon Kurama and storm right through the gate to find the Senkaimon with or without him. He was willing to fight whoever, overcome whatever obstacle, because there so much more he needed to solve on the other side. How did he die? Was he even really dead? He knew of other dimensions, beings with similar abilities nearly brought his own realm to its knees, and for all he knew the same thing was happening in his absence. The blonde balled up a fist, but had to refrain from slamming it against the frail roof he was sitting on so he wouldn't destroy the entire building.

The full moon was the only thing soothing him in his time of yearning. The small town bazaar was unusually empty, only one shop lit amongst all of them. Not one soul lurked around in boredom, so Naruto taking to the roof to people watch was going poorly. He rested his cheek against his knuckle, letting out a deep sigh. He _hated_ feeling stoppable, or simply being blocked from what he wanted to do. The boy wasn't deemed the number one knucklehead in his past life for no reason. He had to do something, it was in his nature to.

" _Don't worry, kit, you'll get back soon,_ " Kurama offered from within the blonde soul but go no response from his host. " _Even if something has gone wrong, Sasuke is there to protect the village._ "

"It's _my_ village to protect, that's not Sasuke's responsibility," Naruto's eyes widened as he covered his lips with his hand. Who was Sasuke again? Those words naturally flowed out of his mouth. The memories Kurama fed him were still a jumbled mess, it was hard for him to process an entire lifetime in a matter of days. The only thing he could clearly remember at the moment was a giant carving of his face in the side of the mountain, which let him know he was important. There was also the village, and remnants of his family life before he died.

" _The idiot wasn't wrong, Naruto. Sometimes you need to think things-_ "

Naruto's head instantly turned to the left, to the lone lit up building suddenly exploding in a massive fire storm; catching both the demon fox and Uzumaki off guard. He shielded his eyes as debris flew everywhere, the boy leaping off of the roof and onto the street, trying to move through the still going fiery blast of destruction to try and find the root. Through the fiery blaze he saw yellow eyes lock onto him, and a speedy black blur shot through the flames and planted its foot into his chest faster than he could react to.

He was sent flying to the other side of the street and destroyed the entire building on the opposite side, it collapsing on top of him. Naruto furrowed his brow as yellow arms made of reiryoku sprouted from his back and smacked away debris from on top of him, making his way out of the destruction and re entered the street. There he was able to face off with the being that just killed the only living thing in the bazaar other than him. It was completely black, humanoid creature that was constantly shifting in shape; it appeared as if someone else was constantly trying to burst out from within the being every waking moment. Whatever it was it was struggling to maintain its form.

It had a white mask, and in its eye slits Naruto saw something that made him freeze in his tracks. A black spinning tomoe and red sclera were staring right him, making him remember every Uchiha he had ever crossed paths with, but this was no Uchiha. What he was seeing was a hollow, right? He knew his eyes weren't deceiving him. It felt like an eon they were squaring off with each other, but in reality it was only a second.

The being let out a menacing laugh as it was suddenly surrounded by a purple, bubbly aura. It shot at Naruto with impeccable speed and disappeared in a blur, first stabbing his left side with its hand, then reappearing underneath him, kicking him into the air. It disappeared with another 'boom' sound and invaded his defenses once more and tried to drive its hand right through his heart, but its hand immediately bounced back with a crunching sound when it smashed into a dense shield of swirling wind protecting the Uzumaki.

Naruto used his wind affinity to spin around, swinging his leg hard and knock the creature into another building; breathing heavily as he watched the structure of it give away and fall on top of his enemy. He placed a hand over his now broken left rib, "How the hell is it that fast?" The way it moved reminded him of a shinobi more than just a regular hollow. That much should have been obvious as soon as he saw it somehow had an underdeveloped sharingan.

Wasting no time, Naruto time held his hand out and a giant ball of blue energy came to life. He was intent to destroying _whatever_ it was, because a being that powerful couldn't be left to roam through Rukongai. Naruto took off so fast a stream of yellow energy was left in his wake, as he locked eyes with the sharingan wielding 'hollow,' but before he could strike with his fully charged Rasengan; he felt like he was frozen in time the moment they locked eyes.

' _ **NARUTO!**_ ' was the last thing the blonde heard before he was caught point blank by a crimson sphere that crashed into center of his chest and sent him flying back. His body tumbled through the dirt road and came sliding to a stop.

He was slow to get up, the sound of another low 'boom' filled his ears, and he saw the creature get down on all fours as he returned to a stand. Knowing he couldn't not take this serious anymore, he erupted fully in yellow energy and activated his cloak. He furrowed his brow as he watched the creature's next movements with awe and horror.

Everything around him from the buildings and debris began to decompose and turn into energy, which started to swirl and mix with the creatures own energy and form into a ball. It was the perfect 8:2 ratio Naruto recognized all too well, but before Naruto could react, or the creature could fire it off it dissipated into nothing. The creature's head snapped elsewhere, Naruto turning his head as well seeing that the hollow-biju hybrid was simply staring at the moon. He tried to blindside it with breathtaking speed, Rasengan in hand ready to disintegrate its mask, but the moment his feet connected with pavement once more his attack connected with nothing.

It was gone.

 **. . .**

Mabui entered the room with a steaming hot kettle of tea, setting on top of her wooden table, and then outstretched her arms, letting out a yawn. She got little sleep the night before dealing with Deidara and Naruto's antics and they continued until the day. The woman deserved a good night of sleep. She decided to let her tea cool down while she changed into some fresh night clothes, and put back together her bed area that the two boys had so generously ruined.

The woman slipped out of her top, and took her time sliding into her night gown. As she changed, her ears perked up when she could've sworn she heard something in the other room. Mabui poked her head out of the door.

Nothing.

Just a kettle of tea.

She shrugged and returned to her room, putting on her slippers. As she grabbed her covers that the blondes just threw on the floor, she heard something else. Mabui poked her head out of the door again to make sure she wasn't under attack.

Once again, nothing.

Just a kettle of tea.

The white haired rukongai resident returned to her bedroom and fixed all of her sheets, tucking them properly and then putting the cover on. As she picked up the pillows and fluffed them before she put on top of the mattress; she heard her tea kettle crash to the floor and the sound of a boy's screams. With one swift movement, she suddenly whipped out a knife from within her nightgown and ran into the room.

"HOTHOTHOTHOTHOT," It was Naruto.

He was covered in boiling hot tea.

He was her wooden table this entire time.

She dropped her knife to the floor, "Get out."

"I'll get you a new table, Mabui-chan!" The blonde grinned cheekily and disappeared with a poof of smoke.

She buried her face in her palms and sighed deeply.

It was time to move. Far.

 _Very_ far.

 **. . .**

 **So I'm back.**


	9. No Honor Among Thieves

**No Honor Among Thieves ~ 9**

Deidara was draining his energy at an alarming rate trying to reconnect with Naruto. After being attacked in the thick of the forest, his senses were all thrown off as he constantly spammed the flash step technique trying to get to where he last saw his kouhai.

The night was still young, the moon shining a light on his path toward the nearest town. He was in a state of flux but Naruto's energy was so strong and unmistakable he could feel where the boy was located. His mind was too erratic to make out if that was a good or bad thing, since they were supposed to be fleeing the likes of the Gotei and staying hidden.

Much to his dismay, he was leaving a small trail of blood in his wake as he traveled due to the severity of his injury.

Right now he could only hope that Naruto wasn't in the same condition as he was.

XxX

(With Aizen)

The man slowly entered a dark room, pushing glasses back onto his face. Moonlight peeked into the room through a small opening that overlooked Rukongai.

In the room waiting for him was a boy with his eyes narrowly closed and silver hair, donning a smile on his face, "You're back in one piece?" He said sounding jokingly surprised. He knew there was no one who could stop Aizen.

"I am," Aizen confirmed quietly as he approached the window and looked out. He seemed to be staring far past the barren district they were in, "I suppose we should be re-joining our comrades." He turned to his smiling subordinate and smirked ever so slightly himself.

Gin smiled while looking at the seal on his hand given to him by Aizen, "I get to blast ya no-"

The boy was sent flying out the room when he was shot with a cero, crashing into the wall and slumping to the ground. Instead of letting out a pained groan, he snickered, "Jeez, you play dirty!" He commented on Aizen as he lifted his finger and a smaller scale cero pierced through Aizen's haori. They discussed the plan before and had their narrative intact, he just didn't know when to expect the attack from his captain. "These magic seals are amazin'," he complimented Aizen as he got up.

"Yes, I suppose those shinobi are good for something."

XxX

(Back With Deidara) 

"Fuck," Deidara mumbled to himself as he collapsed to the ground, exhausting the last of his energy. He was in a terrible hell of being too strong to die, but too weak to continue. Why he chose to be this resilient, he didn't know.

"The Almighty Deidara," A voice made the blonde's head shoot up as if he weren't in immense pain. The night had already gone left with a surprise visit from two captains breathing down his neck, and now someone else. He ended up locking eyes with his most bitter rival in the entire after life. The newcomer was no older than Deidara and Naruto in appearance, having short and spiky light brown hair. His greenish-grey eyes looked over the messy heap that was currently Deidara, "Never thought I'd find you out in the open like this."

He wore a grey cloak over his dark green attire, opening it slightly to reveal a sword attached to his waist. The man slowly began drawing it as he approached the downed Deidara. A smile started to creep onto his face at the prospect of catching the fisherman at a bad time.

"Fuck you, un! Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!" Deidara spit in the boy's face and made him freeze in his tracks. "You can go to hell, Nawaki!"

The newly dubbed Nawaki wiped spit off of his face and groaned, "Annoying as ever I see. How's Biwako? I heard she sent you to retrieve her ring."

The blonde was growing even more irritated having cross paths with Nawaki, "How the hell did you know that, un!? That literally just happened."

"Because, you created the perfect opening for me," Nawaki admitted, actually resheathing his sword so he could pull out something else. He had a pack across his body filled with all sorts of items, but what he took out made Deidara scream so loud into the night a few bushes rustled. A long white scarf unfolded as he revealed it to the blonde, "An authentic Kuchiki scarf. I must admit, you put on quite the show, but you let Biwako distract you. I told you a long time ago to break away from her and forge your own path."

Deidara growled lowly, "That scarf doesn't mean shit to me, un."

"It should, because now that I have it, you know what that means, right?" Nawaki asked as he refolded the scarf and inserted it into his pack.

The blonde thief remained silent.

"Your debt isn't absolved. You're a dead man walking," The sound of metal sliding filled Deidara's ears, Nawaki slashing down quickly, but cut through nothing but air. "You still have some fight left?" He turned slightly to see where Deidara could have possibly gone, but he was nowhere in sight.

Before Nawaki could react, a wooden geta smashed into his face with a great amount of force behind it and sent him flying through the woods, "GETA STYLE: DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Naruto appeared in the rival thief's line of vision striking a pose, while only wearing one sandal. He had Deidara hoisted over his shoulder. The displaced blonde slipped out of the other geta because he had no business fighting with only one shoe on, and it made him wildly uncomfortable to wear the sandals anyway.

"Dynamic entry?" Deidara questioned as he wrestled his way out of Naruto's hold.

"I.. I don't know, something I put together last minute. Just be glad it saved you," He honestly didn't know where he remembered it from, but it worked.

Naruto smiled when he saw Nawaki approaching with a scowl and a footprint on his face.

"You're …," Nawaki was having trouble trying to form a sentence after processing what just happened. He was effectively disgruntled by a sandal, "You're not the one I want. If you knew Deidara and I's history you would step to the side and let me handle him." He pointed his sword at the other blonde that was now sitting on the ground behind Naruto.

Naruto hadn't forgotten his gripe with Deidara either. He looked over his shoulder slightly and then back at Nawaki, "What…," Naruto sighed because Deidara wasn't exactly the most pleasant person to deal with. One day traveling with him let you know what kind of impression he left on people he did business with, "... exactly did he do?" He asked before he made a decision.

Nawaki could tell Naruto was a formidable opponent, but nonetheless reasonable, "It's a very long story, that's been decades in the making. I was the _first_ person to help Deidara when he made it to Rukongai. Since you're just as new you know how it feels when you first arrive. You're confused and lost, not knowing how this big world works." The brown haired thief took a few steps closer since he saw that Naruto was nodding along with what he was saying. "Gave him food, clothing, and shelter for years; even showed him how to defend himself."

"And I'm grateful for that, un," Deidara interrupted him trying to sway Naruto. "But I did the right thing."

The boy grinded his teeth together and shook his head, "There's no such thing as right or wrong in what we do. It's about loyalty, kouhai." Nawaki admitted, "I thought I could trust you, but you betrayed me for Biwako. I gave you a chance to redeem yourself with the scarf, once again a test of loyalty, and you never pulled throug-"

"What do you know about the Senkaimon?" Naruto interjected. For someone to be able to sneak into the Kuchiki mansion like they did and slip in and out without being noticed meant something. He was knowledgeable and skilled, also claiming to be Deidara's senior so he had more experience as well.

Nawaki raised a curious brow, wondering what Naruto was interested in that for, "A lot, but what are you getting at?"

"Whatever Deidara stole from you, assuming that he stole from you; I'll get it back," Naruto stated, ignoring the scream of protest in the background from his sensei. "In exchange, you get me to the Senkaimon, or at least equipped with the knowledge of how to get there."

"I'm going to want more than what Deidara took from me, that'll just be the icing on the cake. I have something better you can do for me," Nawaki liked where this was heading. He took a step forward, extending a hand toward Naruto to confirm their agreement; if there still was one on the table, "I personally can't get you to the Senkaimon, but I can connect you with someone that will."

Naruto looked down on Nawaki's hand for a moment.

"You're going to trust this brown haired runt!?" Deidara yelled out, still in immense pain.

"No, but to be fair I don't trust you either," Naruto admitted as he reached out to shake Nawaki's hand but stopped just short of connecting. "Another thing, you have to heal both of us." He saw Nawaki visibly tense up at the prospect, "If you trained him, then you know he's more than capable of helping me with whatever mission you a have up your sleeve. I'm sure it's a total death wish anyway, or else you would have done it yourself."

"Smart," Nawaki shook upon their agreement. While they started off at each other's throats, he was starting to like Naruto for the time being. He sheathed his sword upon the agreement and folded his arms, "Well then, follow me. I have a base not too far from here."

Naruto nodded as he turned around to see Deidara glaring at him, to which he could only smile, "Cheer up. The worst is almost over," He said as he scooped Deidara off of the ground and hoisted him over his shoulder once more.

"I hope you know what you're doing, kouhai, this is a dangerous game."

 **XxX  
**

(Nawaki's Hideout - With Naruto)

A stick being poked in his back pushing him forward signaled for him to keep walking in the direction. Everything was pitchblack because Nawaki forced them into blindfolds before they started traveling. Naruto took a careful step forward, ignoring Deidara's bitching so he could concentrate on not falling wherever he was crossing through. He heard something slide open and he was forcefully pushed through, tumbling to the ground with Deidara in tow.

Naruto's eyes were filled with white, everything in his immediate view was shiny in Nawaki's foyer.

Deidara was unblindfolded next, "This is excessive…."

"You're a thief, I'm a thief… why would I let you know where I keep most of my valuables?" Nawaki asked with a raised brow.

"Then why bring us here, un!"

"It'll all be somewhere else tomorrow, so I guess it doesn't matter," Nawaki shrugged. On top of blindfolding Deidara, he tied him up, and let Naruto walk. "You want to be healed don't you?"

Deidara grunted and Nawaki grabbed the hanging end of the rope he used to tie him and started dragging him across the shiny white tiles of his home into another room, but he turned to Naruto before he left, "I'll come back for you later. I know where everything is, so don't get any bright ideas."

The room was silent once Deidara was dragged out and Naruto was left to his own devices. He looked left and right and thought of where he could possibly go in Nawaki's giant house. There was a spiraling staircase that led to the upper parts of the house and of course straight ahead he saw what could possibly be the kitchen.

His mind instantly jumped at the thought of getting food and nearly ran into the big kitchen. There was already a big platter sitting on top of the kitchen island, but before he could lunge out at it; he was backed into the wall by a woman pointing a sword at him.

"State your name now."

Naruto was frozen as he looked at her though, his jaw falling slightly slack. His blue eyes locked with her stern dark brown orbs. She had a strong scowl painted on her face and bright red hair that flowed down her back. She wasn't wearing the kind of garments he imagined, looking more battle ready than anything with her dark teal padded jacket on and black tights.

He seemed to forget that a sword was nearly sitting on the tip of his nose, "N-Naruto."

' _Sheesh, kit, calm down it's not who you think it is,_ ' Kurama sounded off for the first time in hours.

That still didn't ease Naruto's jumbled mind because he felt some sort of connection to the woman trying to kill him.

"Fuso-nii! This is Nawaki-sama's guest!" Another girl came in through the kitchen's patio door and interjected before Naruto was sliced to pieces. She was a younger looking than Fuso, with purple hair tied into an up-bun with small gold crown holding it all in place.

The girl pushed Fuso to the other side of the kitchen and hurriedly came back to Naruto and forced him into a seat at the kitchen table. She mumbled hundreds of apologies in that time and placed the platter of food he was aiming at in front of him.

"T-thank you," Naruto was a little shocked by the sudden swing in action.

"My name is Ajisai, nice to meet you Naruto," she bowed respectfully to their new guest. "If you need anything while you stay, I'll be happy to help!"

The sound of metal sliding averted Naruto's attention back to Fuso, who still had a lot of malicious energy directed at him.

"Next time you come barging in without announcing yourself, you lose a limb," Fuso pointed directly at him. She shifted her attention to Ajisai, "Go, handle Deidara's wounds before Nawaki kills him pretending to be nice."

Naruto was awkwardly eating as Ajisai waved at him and exited the room. Now it was only him and Fuso in the kitchen. The tension between them was thick, Naruto dropped his food back on the plate, "Are you going to watch me the entire time?"

Fuso didn't blink, flinch, or twitch as she stayed completely still while staring at Naruto. She folded her arms over each other and took a few steps closer to him, "You're a thief, of course I'm going to watch your every move."

"If I heard right, Nawaki is a thief too? You seem to be apart of whatever little unit is here, what makes you so trustworthy?" Naruto wondered.

"You're on _my_ turf-"

"Nawaki's turf," Naruto corrected with a smile as he held his finger up in the air.

Fuso grinded her teeth together, "Regardless, I'm going to watch over you."

"I'm not a thief though," Naruto tried to change the notion she had about him quickly. "I'm a _shinobi_ ," was his natural instinct to say.

' _Nice_ ,' Kurama jeered at him from the depths of his mind.

"A what?" Fuso didn't quite understand.

Naruto stumbled on his words initially, "I-I'm _like_ a shinobi," he tried to correct himself so Fuso wouldn't think he was crazy. "They work for hire, not really operating on a moral compass of wrong or right. Very fluid. So there's a difference. I don't steal, kill, or make a move in general until compensated." A bit of wisdom that he acquired in his past life flowed out through his words and caught Fuso by surprise.

She nodded in understanding now but still didn't change her stoic expression, "So what exactly did Deidara pay you with to steal from the Kuchiki's?"

The blonde was now at a loss for words, "A pair of new sandals?"

Fuso nodded once more, a smile almost cracking through her stone-like demeanor, "and where are those new sandals?" She got no response as she looked to his dirt covered feet that he tracked through Nawaki's beautiful hideout. "Follow me." She ordered simply as she left the room and Naruto scrambled out of his seat and followed as instructed.

The dirty blonde continued tracking through the clean house, following Fuso up the spiraling staircase. There were multiple rooms on the upper level and his eyes were flipping everywhere at the valuables Nawaki had on display. Vases, busts, and art on the wall caught his eye, but Fuso snapping at him as she slid open a door made him hustle toward her.

The room was different compared to the rest of the house, with clothes riddled all over the floor.

"This is our closet," Fuso explained, as she gestured all around. "Find some clean ones, and get something semi comfortable on your feet. You have a long week ahead of you."

It took close to no time for Naruto to find an orange jacket with white sherpa lining around the collar. He also found a pair of clean black pants and sandals close to what he wore during his time in the world of the living. He was almost done, nearly stepping on a pair of goggles on the floor that he decided to pick up instead. They had green lenses and white outlines, he strapped them around his forehead and smiled big.

Fuso was a little red in the face when Naruto finally looked up from his scavenger hunt to find an outfit, "What?"

"N-nothing," Fuso disregarded it. Naruto didn't notice he got completely naked while looking for new garments, and she refused to acknowledge it past that point, "Just go downstairs to Ajisai to get all stitched up so we can send you two out."

Naruto nodded and Fuso kicked clothes out of her way as she exited after him. She went the other way while Naruto went back toward the staircase.

Nawaki was already waiting with a bandaged up Deidara at the end of the staircase, "You look like a new man," He complimented. "Your turn ugly," Nawaki pushed Deidara forward. "You know where to look."

Deidara hustled up the stairs uncharacteristically quiet and Naruto took notice, but didn't have time to address it.

"You actually look in pretty good condition," Nawaki looked Naruto over once more. He placed his arm around Naruto's shoulder, "There's someone I want you to meet."

Another man entered the room and nodded his head at Naruto. He was wearing an identical pair of goggles on his face that Naruto had just picked up in the 'closet,' he was an average height man with a strong build. He had a lot of dark-blonde hair that was tied into two ponytails, one in the front and another in the back. The man wore a very clean white jumpsuit, "Mahiru." He introduced himself quietly.

"Mahiru is my scout," Nawaki grinned and patted Mahiru on the shoulder, getting a slight twitch from the man and an irritated expression. "We already ran what we found out about by Deidara, that's why he's all quiet and scared." The thief laughed, while Naruto stared semi-blankly.

Deidara was obviously a risk taker, but there was a limit. Naruto saw that when he suggested bolting straight to the nearest Senkaimon and charging back to the world of the living. He wasn't however against it, he just wanted to prepare. Whatever they were suggesting seemed to completely turn him off, but Naruto was a different person. They were offering a payment way too sweet to pass up for him, "So what is it?"

"Have you ever heard of a quincy?" Mahiru asked the orange-clad soul and got another blank stare in response. "Ok, good."

"They're humans who are aware of souls, they have special powers. Most of them were killed by shinigami 100 years ago, but there was actually a catalyst that started it all. That's what leads us to your mission," Nawaki explained. He was now leading the two blondes into the kitchen, where Ajisai was waiting. "Sit down and let her get you patched up for now before I keep going."

Mahiru leaned against the wall with his arms folded over each other waiting for Nawaki to resume.

Naruto sat in a chair next to the table he was just stuffing his face at. There was medical equipment sprawled over it now.

While Ajisai got started, Nawaki continued, "There were rumors that there is a hidden district in Rukongai that predates all of us, it first started about 300 years ago. The reason it's hidden is because it's riddled with hundreds of hollows, hollows stronger than the Gotei has ever seen. Naturally they sent a few squads in to neutralize the threat, but the squads never returned," The brown haired thief had Naruto all the way reeled in his story. "They send another, same result. Eventually higher ranking shinigami are investigating, they barely make it out alive, and this is where the quincy come into play. They actually enlisted the help of 100 quincy. When a quincy kills a hollow, the soul is lost forever, which is usually a problem, but for this case it was perfect."

"Because these hollow were so strong right?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, so they were sending the enemy quincy to completely erase these breed of hollow that were spawning in Rukongai, while also getting rid of quincy. It was a suicide mission-"

Naruto interjected, "Kind of like what you're sending me on-"

"Yes, but we can both benefit from this. I have it all mapped out, but I need someone with strength and intelligence like yours to get it done. Let me explain though, once they sent the quincy in; they had another human they enlisted for help. A sealer; and when all they quincy entered they placed a seal over that district, planning to let them all fight to the death," Nawaki shook his head in disappointment as he told the story. "What interests me is that there was said to actually be an artifact left behind in that district, a legendary weapon, and that's what I need."

"A weapon…" Naruto let his mind wonder.

"Believe or not, I've actually heard stories about you, Naruto," Nawaki admitted. "That's why I think you're perfect for this, you can get in and out without a scratch. I know it. Bring me what I want and I promise you'll get back to the world of the living as soon you as get back."

Naruto see why such a mission would leave even someone like Deidara disgruntled, but he knew he was different from a lot of people in Rukongai. He smiled at Nawaki, "I'll do it, 'ttebayo."

"Good."


End file.
